Meeting with Head of OSCE Mission - Review and Perspectives

CHISINAU, February 24, 2014 — Minister of Defense, Vitalie Marinuta, met today with Ambassador Jennifer Brush, Head of OSCE Mission to Moldova.

The officials discussed the cooperation between the two institutions, with a focus on the projects carried out as part of the Memorandum signed between the Ministry of Defense and OSCE, in Republic of Moldova, on the implementation of the Complex Program on Small Arms and Light Weapons.

The document, signed on October 2010, and estimated at 1,4 million euro, consisted of eight projects, including the construction of a storehouse for conventional ammunition in Bulboaca, the renovation of the ammunition warehouses from Floresti, Cahul, Balti and Chisinau, disposal of different kind of bombs, the purchase of an ammunition visual control system, as well as training courses on ammunition technical management. Four of the eight projects have already been carried out, while the other four are in progress.

The Minister of Defense thanked ambassador Brush for supporting Republic of Moldova in conventional weapons and ammunition security management on the territory of the country. Vitalie Marinuta expressed his confidence that the other actions, meant to enhance weapons control and promote trust and security in the region, will be also carried out in the near future.

At the end, the officials discussed about the need to review the Memorandum, signed in 2010, because the projects started four years ago involve other institutions too, such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs and local public authorities. Thus, decision-making factors will discuss to identify ways of solving this problem.