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STATEMENT By Ambassador Vlad Lupan, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Moldova at the 2013 Substantive Session of the United Nations Disarmament Commission
04.04.2013
Mr. Chairperson,
Let me begin by joining the previous speakers in congratulating you on your election as Chair of the UN Disarmament Commission for the 2013 substantive session, as well as other Bureau members on their election. I would like also avail myself of the opportunity to express my appreciations to Ambassador Enrique Roman Morey, Permanent Representative of Peru, for his efforts as President of the Disarmament Commission last year.
The Republic of Moldova associated itself with the position of the European Union on the matters discussed at the UNDC. However, we would like to stress several points that we consider to be important, both for our country and for an important part of the international community, as we believe.
First of all allow me to reiterate that we trust that the multilateral diplomacy, such as the Disarmament Commission, can bring progress in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation, if there is true political will.
Secondly, we would like to stress two matters, mainly – the nuclear non-proliferation and conventional arms control.
My country perceives the NPT as a key multilateral instrument for the promotion of nuclear disarmament and prevention of nuclear proliferation.We support the call for a strict and full compliance with the NPT, which would ensure the necessary level of international security, a goal as valid today as before. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is an additional element of the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, whose timely entry into force shall constitute a top priority for all States Parties, as well as, hopefully, a follow up on the banning of the fissile materials production.
Mr. Chairperson,
In order to achieve a genuine security at the international, regional and national levels, progress in disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons should be complemented by confidence building measures in the field of conventional weapons. Parallel processes of arms regulations and disarmament in both weapons of mass destruction and conventional arms shall be developed.
In this respect, we (support the previous speakers) express our satisfaction with the adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty yesterday, April 2, 2013. This is an important element in standardizing the arms commerce and excluding negative factors that affected the security of the states in past. At the same time, as we voted for this Treaty, we express our clear understanding that ATT’s provisions prohibit any arm transfers to non-state actors that are beyond the control from a constitutional authority of a state party.
Most importantly in the field of conventional weaponry, the Republic of Moldova strongly advocates for a combination of global and regional conventional arms control arrangements. We believe in the implementation of the global arms control arrangements and in the importance of viable and comprehensive regional arrangements, in our particular case in Europe. Thus, my country is participant to main European arrangements on conventional arms control as well as confidence and security building measures, in particular the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (the CFE Treaty) and the Vienna Document on CSBMs.
The Republic of Moldova highly values the contribution of these two (cornerstone) documents in ensuring military balance, security and transparency on European continent during the past two decades. At the same time, given the existing impasse around the functioning and the future of the CFE Treaty, we support the efforts aimed at revitalizing and modernizing this important arms control regime.
In this regard, we would welcome an early result on conventional arms control agreement in Europe. Any future control regime in this respect should be based on a legally binding system of verifiable equipment limits, include information exchange and verification measures as well as take full account of other relevant elements of the CFE Treaty. Such a regional regime should be in conformity with, in our case, the Helsinki Final Act principles, leaving no place for misinterpretation. Moreover, such a conventional arms control arrangement shall only strengthen the respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of states-parties. We firmly believe that among other important elements, a new arrangement should reinforce the principle of host-nation consent to the stationing of foreign military forces. In this respect, I would like to reiterate our longstanding position regarding the need to finalize the withdrawal of Russian military forces and munitions from the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova. Let me remind that the stationing of this military presence does not enjoy the consent of the Republic of Moldova and it is in contradiction with the international commitments as well as the relevant provisions of the Republic of Moldova’s Constitution. Any steps towards increasing or modernising this foreign military presence is a factor of serious concern for my Government. Furthermore, if considered in the context of conflict settlement process, such actions are undermining the efforts aimed at finding a peaceful and negotiated solution for the Transnistrian conflict in the framework of the internationally accepted 5+2 talks.
Mr. Chairperson,
Let me conclude by saying that we share the deep conviction that through common approaches and efforts of all parties involved we can succeed in addressing the entire set of the key items of disarmament globally and regionally, thus contributing to the regional and international security.
Thank you.
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