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Ministers' Deputies Report by Ambassador Pietro Ercole
Ago,
A first
visit The participants in the visit were Mr Umberto Ranieri, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Italy, Ambassador Pietro Ercole Ago, Chairman of the Ministers' Deputies, accompanied, from the Secretariat, by Mr Giovanni Buquicchio, Secretary of the Venice Commission for Democracy through Law, and Mr Ivan Koedjikov from the Political Advice Department of the Directorate General of Political Affairs. The visit was the first by the Chair of the Committee of Ministers since Moldova's accession to the Council of Europe and the first ever by the Chair to Transnistria. The Delegation was received at the highest possible level, including by the President (on two occasions), Speaker of Parliament, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, as well as by the self-styled “President” and “Speaker” of the “Transnistrian Moldavian Republic”. The Delegation also made a brief visit to the Council of Europe Information Centre and met NGO representatives. In Tiraspol, members of the Delegation met Mr Ilie ILASCU in his prison cell. The
Moldovan institutional crisis On the first day of the visit, the Parliament of Moldova adopted constitutional amendments paving the way to transforming the country into parliamentary republic, where the President will be elected by Parliament to a largely ceremonial post. From a formal point of view, this parliamentary vote cannot be challenged. Politically, however, the constitutional crisis is far from over. A legitimate question is whether the future President should be elected by the present Parliament or by a new one. The prospect for early parliamentary elections, as well as ideas about referendum and direct presidential elections may still bring unpredictable developments in Moldova. Mr Dumitru DIACOV, Speaker of Parliament, assured the Delegation that the legislators would shortly adopt a set of laws broadening governmental powers. This would be welcome development since in the present time all powers are vested in the Parliament, this presenting more a kind of parliamentary dictatorship than a parliamentary democracy. While taking a neutral stand as regards the latest developments, the Delegation voiced regret that the result, earlier agreed upon by the joint parliamentary- presidential constitutional commission, set up under the aegis of the Venice Commission, under the presidency of Mr Giorgio MALINVERNI had not been honoured. The Chairman called for institutional solutions making Moldova a more governable and stable democracy. The
Transnistrian settlement: a more visible role for the Venice
Commission A substantial result of the visit was the agreement obtained from the authorities in Chisinau, the OSCE mission and the Tiraspol leaders for a stepped-up contribution of the Venice Commission to the negotiation of a political settlement for Transnistria. The understanding is that the format of the negotiation must remain unchanged, namely between Chisinau and Tiraspol with the OSCE, Russia and Ukraine as mediators. The Venice Commission could also plan a higher-visibility activity, e.g., a seminar, or other meeting in Strasbourg or Venice. A re-trial
and independent medical examination for Mr Ilie Ilascu I had the opportunity, together with Mr Koedjikov, of our Secretariat's Political Advice Department, to visit Mr Ilascu in prison and had 20 minutes conversation with him. We were accompanied by self-styled “TMR Interior Minister” Mr Vladimir KURISCO. Mr Ilascu maintains that he was initially detained by the 14th Russian Army for political reasons and that valid criminal charges were never brought against him, as he was tried and is held in prison by an illegal regime. In the framework of this legal logic, accepting a retrial in a third country would indirectly render legitimacy to the Tiraspol regime, as it would imply that the first criminal case against him was somehow legitimate. Moreover Mr Ilascu maintains that there in a plat between the Russians, Chisinau and Tiraspol to keep him in detention. Nevertheless, Mr Ilascu repeatedly to us a firm agreement that he would accept a re-trial in a third country. This was an important development, as only two weeks earlier, during the visit by the OSCE Chairman, he had rejected the idea. Mr Kurisco also agreed to arrange for a medical examination for Mr Ilascu in a Tiraspol hospital in the presence of medical personnel from Chisinau. Having learnt through Ambassador Hill, the OSCE Head of Mission, that this had not yet taken place, I wrote last week to Mr Smirnov to remind him of the importance we attach to the fulfilment of an agreement in this essentially humanitarian matter. Following our visit to Moldova, a press release has been issued (see Appendix). Appendix First
visit of the Committee of Ministers Chairman to Chisinau and Tiraspol: a new
role for the Venice Commission STRASBOURG, 26.07.2000 - During his July 21-22 visit to Moldova, Umberto
Ranieri, Italian State Secretary for Foreign Affairs acting on behalf
of the Chair of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers,
invited his interlocutors in Chisinau and Tiraspol to reflect on new
ways to settle the Transnistrian controversy. Leaders in Chisinau and
Tiraspol accepted his offer for an increased contribution by the
Venice Commission to the negotiating process. The Venice Commission, a Council of Europe independent advisory body
composed of renowned experts in constitutional law, has provided
crucial advice to many European States, including Moldova. Without
changing the negotiating format (Chisinau-Tiraspol, with mediation by
OSCE, Russia and Ukraine), the Venice Commission involvement could
provide a new momentum to the settlement effort. Mr Ranieri's delegation raised the issue of the ongoing consultations
regarding the situation of Ilie Ilascu, both with Moldovan leaders and
with Tiraspol authorities and also met Mr. Ilascu in prison. All
interlocutors, in particular Mr Ilascu for the first time, agreed
that the time is ripe to explore solutions based on his transfer to a
third country where a new trial would be held by a local court of
justice. Mr. Ranieri urged the Moldovan authorities to adopt constitutional
solutions that would make the country more governable and bring more
stability to political life.
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