CHISINAU, July 31. /TASS/. Moldova’s withdrawal from CIS Agreements will hurt Moldovan nationals working in CIS countries, a Moldovan lawmaker said on Monday.

"Hundreds of thousands of Moldovan nationals are working not only in Russia but in other CIS countries as well. And now, they need protection. Regrettably, many embassies in CIS countries lack the capacity to carry out even the most basic consular functions," Vladimir Odnostalko, a parliament member with the opposition Party of Socialists, told the last meeting of the spring parliament session, which focused on the denunciation of a number of CIS agreements, including one on cooperation in the sphere of labor protection that was signed in Moscow in 1994.

"The denunciation of this agreement will mean that you, dear lawmakers, are imposing sanctions against thousands of Moldovan citizens," he stressed.

He suggested that this bill be removed from the agenda but the majority of lawmakers from the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity declined the request and the opposition Socialist and Communist lawmakers walked out in protest.

Earlier, the ruling party's lawmakers passed a law on the denunciation of the Convention on the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and terminated a number of agreements with the CIS.

Moldova’s attitude to the CIS began to change in 2020 when Maia Sandu became president of the country. Since then, she has not attended any of the CIS’ summits. The anti-CIS rhetoric has only increased this year, with Foreign Minister Nicolae Popescu announcing the denunciation of a number of CIS agreements. However, Moldovan Minister of Economic Development and Digitalization Dumitru Alaiba said that the country should keep in force those agreements which are useful for the country’s economy. Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vladimir Bolea shared this opinion, saying that withdrawing from the CIS would be a blow to the country’s main industry.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has slammed Chisinau’s policy as janus-faced. She noted that while declaring their plans to withdraw from the CIS the Moldovan authorities are in no hurry to give up the socio-economic advantages they receive from being members of the CIS.