VZCZCXRO7722
RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL
DE RUEHCH #1001/01 3640606
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 300606Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8714
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 CHISINAU 001001 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/UMB 
 
E.O. 12958; DECL: 12/24/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PINR RS MD
SUBJECT:  DASD WALLANDER AND MOLDOVAN MINISTER OF 
DEFENSE MARINUTA DISCUSS DEFENSE AND SECURITY 
ISSUES 
 
Classified by:  Ambassador Asif J. Chaudhry for 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  Deputy Assistant Secretary of 
Defense Celeste Wallander, accompanied by the 
Defense Attache, met with Moldovan Minister of 
Defense Vitalie Marinuta on December 11.  The DASD 
and Minister discussed ways to enhance bilateral 
defense cooperation and reviewed upcoming 
Bilateral Defense Consultations (BDC) scheduled to 
take place in Washington from January 11-12, 2010. 
DASD Wallander lauded Moldova's democratic process 
and noted the U.S. sought to deepen relations with 
Moldova and its defense establishment.  Minister 
Marinuta laid out his reform vision, noted Moldova 
is seeking to sign a new Individual Partnership 
Action Plan (IPAP)with NATO in 2010, raised the 
issue of repayment of Coalition Support Funds 
(CSF) for Moldova's Iraq deployment, and expressed 
general support for a possible international 
peacekeeping deployment.  End Summary. 
 
Moldovan Priorities 
------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) At the December 11 meeting, Minister 
Marinuta thanked DASD Wallander for her visit to 
Moldova and explained that 2009 had been a 
difficult year for Moldova because of the global 
economic crisis and the country's protracted 
election process.  Despite these challenges, 
Moldova has a functioning government that has 
already taken decisive action to fulfill its 
commitments to the Moldovan people. 
 
¶3. (C) Marinuta emphasized that defense reform 
would take place within the context of the new 
government's five priorities, which included 
European integration, overcoming the economic 
crisis, settling the Transnistria issue by 
peaceful means within the 5 plus 2 format, 
implementing the rule of law, and decentralizing 
political power.  Marinuta described the new 
climate of reform in the government, which the 
Ministry of Defense will actively support.  He 
emphasized that reform across Moldova's entire 
security sector was essential if the Ministry of 
Defense was to reform successfully.  The economic 
situation would continue to impact the extent of 
Moldova's contribution to international engagement 
and security efforts. 
 
¶4. (C) DASD Wallander said she understood that 
2009 had been a difficult year for Moldova.  The 
USG has been impressed by the democratic manner in 
which Moldova and its new government has handled 
the political situation.  The new government's 
commitment to the rule of law and democracy 
established a firm basis for enhanced defense 
cooperation.  The U.S. looked to the 2010 
Bilateral Defense Consultations to review 
Moldova's priorities and seek areas of further 
cooperation that would strengthen U.S.-Moldovan 
relations. 
 
Moldovan Defense Reform 
----------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Minister Marinuta pledged that Moldova 
would come to the Bilateral Defense Consultations 
in January 2010 with concrete priorities to help 
focus bilateral defense cooperation on helping 
Moldova reach the following defense reform goals: 
 
--Establish a National Security Strategy in 2010; 
 
--Create a defense planning system Q with 
assistance of the U.S. Naval Post Graduate 
School's Center for Civil Military Relations 
(CCMR); 
--Develop force capabilities that are 
interoperable with NATO and other partner nations 
for participation in international peacekeeping 
operations; and 
 
--Enhance conventional capabilities with a focus 
on improving training and equipment in the Special 
Forces and Peacekeeping battalions. 
 
 
CHISINAU 00001001  002 OF 004 
 
 
¶6. (C) Minister Marinuta informed DASD Wallander 
that the Moldovan Ministry of Defense (MOD) 
planned to enhance training through Moldova's 
military institute by revising its curriculum and 
building a Senior Officer Course.  Despite the 
strong interest in reform, Moldova continued to 
have serious challenges that would impede reform 
efforts.  Marinuta noted that the lack of an 
elected President for a majority of 2010, combined 
with local elections not scheduled until 2011, 
will hamper the reform process.  Moldova's 
economic challenges were well known, yet risked 
further cutting into already small defense 
spending rate.  The significant impact of the 
global economic crisis had resulted in a 20% 
reduction in the Moldovan defense budget in 2009, 
which could lead to another 20% reduction in 2010. 
 
¶7. (C) DASD Wallander underscored that Moldova's 
defense priorities are focused on the right areas 
and both sides should use the opportunity of the 
BDC to establish security cooperation activities 
that will support Moldova's ability to reach its 
reform goals.  DASD emphasized that the new 
Moldovan government's interest in reform 
represented an opportunity to deepen bilateral 
defense relations.  Due to Moldova's size and 
already strong IMET trained officer course, 
targeted assistance could do a great deal in 
strengthening and reforming Moldova's defense 
institutions. 
 
Bilateral Defense Relations 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8. (S) Minister Marinuta thanked DASD Wallander 
for U.S. defense assistance and reiterated the 
importance U.S. support provides for modernizing 
Moldova's Armed Forces.  Expanding on his point, 
Minister Marinuta pointed to seven military 
colleagues flanking him around the room, who were 
educated in the U.S. through IMET funding. 
Marinuta thanked DASD Wallander for the recent 
U.S. Special Forces Joint Combined Exchange 
Training that concluded in November 2009 in 
Moldova.  The training had been extremely 
beneficial to personnel who attended the course 
and had a positive morale and institutional boost 
to the Armed Forces.  Marinuta expressed a strong 
desire for similar events in the future. 
 
¶9. (S) DASD Wallander reflected on the Joint 
Combined Exchange Training, noting it was a 
success due to Moldova's commitment and the new 
government's support of the training activity. 
Emphasizing that the U.S. European Command 
(USEUCOM) has an extensive military-to-military 
engagement program in the region, DASD Wallander 
conveyed that Moldova could best take advantage of 
U.S. engagement by fully participating in regional 
activities and exercises.  DASD noted that USEUCOM 
and Moldova will need to review the FY10-11 
calendar of activities and exercises in the region 
to ensure Moldova is taking full advantage of 
opportunities.  Participating or observing 
multilateral events in the Western Balkans could 
be of particular interest due to the proximity and 
shared experiences of small states in Europea 
undergoing defense reform. 
 
Individual Partnership Action Plan 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Turning to relations with NATO, the 
Minister expressed that he wanted Moldova to sign 
a new Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) in 
¶2010.  Emphasizing that the existing plan was 
outdated, Moldova needed to revise its goals and 
priorities under the IPAP.  Moldova's 
establishment of a government commission to review 
these goals and priorities is a first step in this 
process. 
 
Coalition Support Funds 
----------------------- 
 
¶11. (C) The Minister relayed Moldova's continued 
interest in resolving the issue of expenses 
Moldova incurred from its six rotations in Iraq 
 
CHISINAU 00001001  003 OF 004 
 
 
from 2005 through 2008.  He explained that 
receiving the requested $209,000 was essential for 
the Ministry of Defense to convince Moldova's 
political leadership to back any future 
international deployments.  Marinuta noted that 
the MoD will utilize reimbursed funds to improve 
the 22nd Peacekeeping Battalion's training and 
readiness for potential deployments abroad in 
support of international missions.  DASD Wallander 
understood Moldova's concerns and noted the U.S. 
was in the process of validating the expenses. 
Additional information had been requested through 
DAO Chisinau and the U.S. appreciated a timely 
response which will facilitate the closure of this 
issue, which DASD agreed had gone on for too long. 
 
Transnistria 
------------ 
 
¶12. (C) Marinuta stressed the importance of 
resolving the issue of the large stocks of Soviet- 
era small arms ammunition stored in the Colbasna 
ammunition depot in Transnistria.  The Minister 
believed a resolution of this issue would 
eliminate the danger to the local populace and 
remove one of Russia's reasons for keeping its 
forces in Transnistria.  DASD Wallander stated 
that the U.S. had resources and programs that 
could potentially help Moldova with the disposal 
of stocks of unstable ammunition.  She said that 
the incidents in Albania and Russia illustrated 
the importance safely disposing of dangerous 
stockpiles of ageing ammunition.  The Minister 
noted that Moldova was making great progress on 
ammunition stockpiles in Moldova with the help of 
OSCE, but explained that the Moldovans and OSCE 
had no access to the ammunition at Colbasna 
because it was in Transnistria and controlled by 
Russian peacekeepers. 
 
¶13. (C) Regarding the political process on 
Transnistria, Marinuta believed it was unfortunate 
that Russia had not supported the OSCE declaration 
on Transnistria at the recent summit in Corfu. 
Although Moldova provided peacekeepers to the 
Joint Control Commission in Transnistria, the 
government believed that there is a need to 
replace military peacekeepers with civilian 
international observers under an international 
mandate. 
 
¶14. (C) DASD Wallander pledged U.S. support for 
working toward resolving the Transnistria problem 
via the 5 plus 2 format and expressed regret that 
little progress had been made in the past.  A 
shift from military peacekeepers to civilian 
observers in Transnistria would support 
transparency and stability in Moldova.  DASD 
Wallander noted that the U.S. "reset" with Russia 
sought to improve the bilateral atmosphere so that 
the two countries could engage in productive 
dialogue on important issues, including regional 
security issues like Transnistria.  She emphasized 
that the U.S. did not view relations with Russia 
as a zero-sum game and that there was room for 
Moldova to have good relations with both Russia 
and the United States. 
 
International Deployment 
------------------------ 
 
¶15. (S) DASD Wallander thanked Moldova for its 
past troop contributions in support of Operation 
Iraqi Freedom.  If Moldova was interested in 
participating in ISAF, there were a number of 
different ways to structure a contribution to 
NATO's efforts in Afghanistan.  DASD Wallander 
stressed that the U.S. wanted what is appropriate 
for Moldova given its political situation and its 
priorities for defense reform.  Minister Marinuta 
responded that the Ministry of Defense was engaged 
through Moldova's National Security Council to 
raise Moldova's possible participation in an 
international mission.  He said that Prime 
Minister Filat and Acting President Ghimpu wanted 
Moldova to participate in such a mission but were 
unsure of which mission would be best for Moldova. 
DASD Wallander emphasized that any Moldovan 
participation in an international operation should 
 
CHISINAU 00001001  004 OF 004 
 
 
support Moldova's national security and defense 
reform priorities. 
 
¶16.  (U) This message was cleared by Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of Defense Wallander. 
 
 
CHAUDHRY