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RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHCH #0553 1480953
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 270953Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6709
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS CHISINAU 000553 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/UMB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PBTS PARM PREL PTER PGOV MD
SUBJECT: NEW NATIONAL SECURITY CONCEPT PASSES WITH A NARROW 
MAJORITY 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified. Please Protect Accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Moldova's new National Security Concept (NSC) 
passed in Parliament on May 22.  The document provides for 
neutrality as the cornerstone of Moldova's national security. 
Unlike the previous 1995 version, the new document focuses more on 
social and economic threats to national security, European 
integration efforts and the need to enhance democracy and human 
rights.  The bill was supported by the Communists and Social 
Democrats but criticized by the opposition for its focus on 
neutrality and for ruling out future NATO membership.  With Russian 
insistence upon Moldova's permanent neutrality as a pre-condition 
for a Transnistria settlement, adoption of this document could help 
facilitate progress in the resolution of the Transnistrian conflict. 
 End Summary. 
 
NSC Draft Years in Process, Now Updated 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In December 2005, President Voronin created a governmental 
commission to begin drafting the NSC.  The draft was submitted to 
the Parliament in the summer of 2007.  However, the government 
recalled its draft from the Parliament a week before the scheduled 
parliamentary hearings, and a new document which incorporated 
President Voronin's demilitarization proposals was submitted 
instead.  The current National Security Concept has three chapters: 
threats to national security, international security cooperation 
(bilateral and multilateral), and Moldovan national security and 
security-sector reform. 
 
¶3. (U) The concept lists the threats to national security as:  the 
Transnistrian conflict, international terrorism, inter-ethnic 
tensions, organized crime, natural disasters, and social, economic 
and information-technology threats.  The draft mentions the EU, 
Russia, the U.S., Romania and Ukraine (in that order) as Moldova's 
key partners in the field of security.  Bilateral and multilateral 
cooperation with international organizations (including the CIS and 
NATO) are allowed, but only within the limits of Moldova's neutral 
status.  The armed forces can be used only to defend the country and 
in peace-keeping operations.  According to the document, a detailed 
National Security Strategy will be developed on the basis of the 
NSC. 
 
Neutrality:  The Key Issue 
-------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU)  The draft NSC was criticized by some liberal opposition 
leaders, who complained about the Communists' stance on neutrality, 
suggesting that according to the Constitution, the people of Moldova 
should decide whether or not to join NATO.  All parliamentary 
groups, however, shared the view that any NSC must enjoy the support 
of all parties.  The Social Democrats had insisted on paying more 
attention to social threats to national security such as poverty and 
migration, but supported the bill anyway.  Though the Christian 
Democrats and the Democratic Party had conditionally supported the 
draft in its first reading, these two factions were discontent that 
their amendments had been rejected and opposed the bill in the 
second reading.  Deputies from Our Moldova Alliance even walked out 
of the plenary to protest the fact that their amendments were not 
included.  The bill passed with 58 votes (out of a parliamentary 
total of 101). 
 
¶4. (SBU) Comment:  Passage of a National Security Concept was an 
objective of Moldova's Individual Partnership Action Plan with NATO. 
 It is the baseline document needed for developing Moldova's 
National Security Strategy.  This National Security Concept is 
oriented less towards NATO than the previous document, and seems 
designed to keep Russia happy with its statements about neutrality. 
The NSC limits Moldova's cooperation with NATO to activities within 
the scope of the Partnership for Peace program, and declares openly 
that Moldova has no desire to join NATO.  The substantive core of 
the document is its notion of permanent neutrality, while the rest 
of its provisions are quite general.  If Russia feels the NSC 
assuages its concerns about Moldovan neutrality, it may be more 
inclined to push the Transnistrians to resolve the conflict. 
 
KIRBY