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Moldova may need up to 10 years to restore abandoned CIS agreements — parliamentarian

Moldova’s attitude toward the CIS began to shift in 2020 after Maia Sandu became president of the country

MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/. Restoring agreements with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) from which Moldova has withdrawn would be a lengthy, difficult process that could take up to 10 years, Adrian Lebedinsky, head of Moldova’s delegation to the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, said in an interview with Izvestia.

According to him, this issue requires "very strong political will" from Moldova's CIS partners. "If the leaders of the [CIS member] countries are unanimous that it is urgently necessary to improve the situation and restore Moldova as a party to all of these agreements, then it could be done in a year or two. But if there are some disputes, if someone disagrees, I think it may well take 10 years," the head of the delegation said.

He emphasized the need to negotiate separately on each protocol and memorandum. "I think it will take years. Look at how many years it took for us to join the CIS; how many years it took for us to sign the first agreements. It's not going to be that easy. Especially since there are different views in the CIS now," Lebedinsky said.

Moldova’s attitude toward the CIS began to shift in 2020 after Maia Sandu became president of the country. Since then, she has not attended any of the CIS summits. This year, Chisinau's stance toward the CIS has only become tougher, 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 that are useful for the country’s economy. Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vladimir Bolea concurred, saying that withdrawing from the CIS would be a blow to the agricultural sector, the country’s main industry.

In late July, Igor Dodon, former president and Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova leader, said that after a transition of power in the country all agreements with the CIS that have been illegally denounced by Sandu’s ruling Party of Action and Solidarity will be restored.

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