Key
developments since May 2001: Moldova submitted its initial Article 7 Report
on 8 April 2002, declaring a stockpile of 12,121 antipersonnel mines. Moldova
and NATO signed an agreement in June 2001 for assistance in the destruction of
the mine stockpile, which should be completed in 2002.
MINE BAN POLICY
Moldova signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December
1997 and ratified it on 8 September 2000, becoming a State Party on 1 March
2001.[1] Moldova has not
reported the enactment of any national implementation measures. Moldova
submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report on 8 April 2002; it had been
due on 28 August 2001.
Moldova attended the Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2001 in
Managua, Nicaragua and the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in January
and May 2002, with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Ministry of Defense. On 29 November 2001, Moldova cosponsored and voted for
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 56/24M in support of the Mine Ban
Treaty.
Moldova is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and ratified
its Amended Protocol II on 16 July 2001. Moldova states that it participated in
the Third Annual Conference of States Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II in
December 2001.[2]
From 19-22 June 2002, the destruction of antipersonnel mines in Moldova was
discussed during a regional seminar “Understanding the Ottawa
Treaty,” in Warsaw, organized by the governments of Poland and Canada.
PRODUCTION, TRANSFER, STOCKPILING, AND DESTRUCTION
Moldova is not believed to ever have produced,
imported, or exported antipersonnel mines, but has a stockpile inherited from
the Soviet Union.[3] In its
Article 7 Report, it reported a stockpile of 12,121 antipersonnel mines,
including the following: 9,992 PMN blast mines, 936 PMN-2 blast mines, 944 MAI
blast mines, 59 OZM-72 bounding fragmentation mines, 12 MON-50 fragmentation
mines, and 178 MON-100 mines.[4]
On 28 June 2001, Moldova, one of 27 members of the Partnership for Peace
(PfP) program of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), signed a
Memorandum of Understanding with NATO in Brussels for assistance from
NATO’s Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) in the destruction of
antipersonnel mines, liquid propellant oxidizer (known as Melanj), and surplus
munitions.[5] The agreement is
for NATO to provide material assistance and training for the implementation of
the project. The initiative will be financed through one of NATO’s PfP
Trust Fund projects and NAMSA will be the executing agency. The Netherlands is
the lead NATO sponsor of the project and, to date, Canada, Luxembourg, Poland,
the United Kingdom, and the United States have pledged financial support. The
total project cost is said to be US$1
million.[6]
The Moldovan Parliament ratified the agreement in October 2001 and the same
month, a NAMSA delegation arrived in Moldova to discuss its
implementation.[7] In January
2002, NAMSA organized training in the United Kingdom for Moldova military
specialists, who will manage the programs.
Moldova’s Article 7 Report states that it intends to destroy its
antipersonnel mines using “electric methods of destruction” in the
summer of 2002.[8] The mines
earmarked for destruction will be “transferred from the storage in
Floresti, in Bulboaca and in
Marculesti”[9] to the
Training Center of the Army at
Bulboaca.[10]
In accordance with Article 3 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Moldova intends to
retain the following 849 mines for development and training: 200 PMN blast
mines, 200 PMN-2 blast mines, 200 MAI blast mines, 59 OZM-72 bounding
fragmentation mines, 12 MON-50 fragmentation mines, and 178 MON-100 mines.
Moldova states that the PMN, PMN-2 and MAI-75 mines will be used for
“instruction and training” and the others will be used “as
tactical mines and for
training.”[11]
LANDMINE PROBLEM AND MINE ACTION
Moldova is affected by landmines and unexploded
ordnance (UXO) from World War II and the 1992 Transdniester conflict. In its
Article 7 Report, Moldova reports having destroyed 333 mines from the northern
Pohrebea minefield during the reporting period: 326 PMN blast mines, 1 PMN-2, 5
OZM bounding fragmentation mines, and 1 POMZ-2M (a type of mine which it does
not claim to possess).[12]
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, between January and May 2002, 120
mines and UXO were cleared.[13]
More than 10,000 mines have been cleared in Moldova since it attained
independence in 1992.[14]
There is no new public information on mine incidents. Statistics on
mine casualties are not available to the public.
PRIDNESTROVIE MOLDAVIAN REPUBLIC (PMR)
The Transdniestrian (Pridnestrovian) region of
Moldova declared independence in 1990 and calls itself Pridnestrovie Moldavian
Republic (PMR). PMR is not internationally recognized. Fighting broke out
between Moldova and PMR in 1992 and both sides used
landmines.[15]
On 29 May 2001, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov received a document
certifying that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
would cover the expenses in connection with the withdrawal or destruction of
Russian weapons based in eastern
Moldova.[16] On 15 June 2001,
representatives of the OSCE, the Russian Defense Ministry, and the
Transdniestrian industrial complex signed a tripartite agreement on the
establishment of a Joint Working Group to investigate the possibility of
industrial reprocessing and the disposal of mines and ammunition of Russian
stockpiles, including the large Colbasna
stockpile.[17] The Tripartite
Working Group identified over 26,000 tons of mines and ammunition suitable for
reprocessing and disposal (out of over 40,000
tons).[18] In March 2002, OSCE
Mission Head, David Swartz, was quoted as saying that the destruction and
withdrawal of more than 40,000 tons of ammunition in Colbasna was in its final
stages.[19]
In addition to Colbasna, large stockpiles of Russian munitions, including
landmines, are stored in Tiraspol, the capital of the PMR. The stockpile there
reportedly is in unstable condition and more than 350 tons of landmines and
engineer ammunition need immediate
destruction.[20]
According to various sources, the mines found in PMR include: PMN-1, PMN-2,
MON-50, MON-90, MON-100, MON-200, OZM-72, and
POMZ.[21]
Some of the OSCE donor countries have expressed a desire to see the
destruction process in PMR carried out in strict accordance with the Mine Ban
Treaty requirements, given that Moldova itself is party to the
treaty.[22]
At the OSCE’s request, a German company, “MDSG Logistic,”
has been researching and evaluating mine and munitions stockpiles in the region,
possibilities for their disposal, budgeting and estimated timeframe of the
project. “MDSG Logistic” will act as the principal manager of the
destruction project.[23]
Moldovan, Russian, and PMR peacekeeping units that were located in the safety
zone in 2001 have continued checking and clearing territory from mines and
UXO.
In 2001, PMR claims to have provided full support for medical, social, and
professional rehabilitation for victims of war and military conflicts, and to
have provided special care for
war-disabled.[24]
[1] For background on Moldova and the
breakaway Pridnestrovie Moldavian Republic (PMR), see Landmine Monitor Report
1999, pp. 743-744. [2] Letter from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova to ICBL-Ukraine, 20 January 2001.
Moldova does not appear on the official list of participants for the annual
conference, or the CCW Review Conference, also held in December
2001. [3] Moldova claims no production
in its initial Article 7 Report. Article 7 Report, Form H, 8 April 2002.
[4] Article 7 Report, Form B, 8 April
2002. [5] Statement of Valeriu Rusu,
Ministry of Defense, in “NATO to assist Moldova’s effort to
neutralize Melanj oxidant and antipersonnel mines,” BASA (press agency),
Chisinau, 14 November 2001. [6]
“NAMSA Support for Stockpile Destruction,” Peter Courtney-Green,
NAMSA, available at:
www.isn.ethz.ch/pfparchive. [7]
Statement of Valeriu Rusu, Ministry of Defense, in “NATO to assist
Moldova’s effort to neutralize Melanj oxidant and antipersonnel
mines,” BASA (press agency), Chisinau, 14 November
2001. [8] Statement of General
Korobchanu, Chief of General Staff, Moldova Armed Forces, to the regional
conference on landmines in Yalta, Ukraine, 15-16 November
2001. [9] Article 7 Report, Form D, 8
April 2002. [10] Article 7 Report, Form
F, 8 April 2002. [11] Article 7 Report,
Form D, 8 April 2002. [12] Article 7
Report, Form G, 8 April 2002. [13]
Telephone interview with Valerio Chiveli, Department of European Security and
Military Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 21 June
2001. [14] Statement of General
Korobchanu, Chief of General Staff, Moldova Armed Forces, to the regional
conference on landmines, Yalta, Ukraine, 15-16 November
2001. [15] Landmine Monitor Report 2001,
p. 742. [16] Olvia (press agency), 15
June 2001. [17] Statement of Vjacheslav
Sapronov, Head of the PMR State Committee for Military Industrial Complex, to
the regional conference on landmines, Yalta, 15-16 November
2001. [18] Statement of General Bernard
Aussedat (France) to the regional conference on landmines, Yalta, 15-16 November
2001. [19] Olvia, 18 April
2002. [20] Alexey Tikhonov,
“Chronicles of incidents on Russian stockpiles,” Grani.Ru (Internet
Press Agency), at:
www.grani.ru/incidents/articles/ivanov_reports. [21]
See for example, Statement of Marcel Hanus, Military Institute of Technology of
Arms and Ammunition of Czech Republic, to regional conference on landmines,
Yalta, Ukraine, 15-16 November
2001. [22] Statement of Oswald
Schneidratus, Deputy Head, OSCE Mission to Moldova, to press conference,
Chisinau, 24 March 2002. [23] Statement
of Oswald Schneidratus, OSCE, to a regional conference in Kiev, 22 March
2002. [24] Olvia, 15 December
2001.
About Us
Our Research Products