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| The Republic of Moldova and Transdniestr 05/04/2011 |
| (2011-04-05) |
| Last updated: 2011-04-06 12:14 EET |
The ex-Soviet Republic of Moldova with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population has once more called on Russian authorities to withdraw all their troops and arsenals from Transdniestr, a breakaway region at the eastern Moldovan border with the Ukraine. A new round of talks led by Russia, the Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe with EU and US officials attending as observers held in Vienna focused on Russian military forces stationed in the region and providing the separatists with protection.
Ranking high on the Moldovans’ top priority list for the talks were the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from the region, emptying weaponry depots as well as establishing an international civilian mission to replace the so-called Russian-led peace-keepers. The Russian intervention in the Transdniestr conflict on the separatist side in the early 90s tipped the balance in the latter’s favour.
Moldovan deputy Prime Minister for reintegration Eugen Carpov explains: “Russian troops have been illegally stationed on the territory of our country since 1994, which runs counter the provisions of the Constitution. I urgently call on Russian officials to empty all ammunition depots. We are just as willing to discuss the efficiency of the ongoing peace-keeping operations. First and foremost I refer here to blatant violations of human rights, which have become more and more frequent, and to the arbitrary arrests and convictions of Moldovan citizens.“
Last week in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov called on his Moldovan counterpart, Iurie Leanca to grant a special status to Transdniestr within a united Republic of Moldova. Political analyst Nicu Popescu, Prime Minister Vlad Filat’s former foreign policy advisor, said that Russia was now much more interested to resume talks on Transdniestr, against the new international backdrop.
Here is what he told our correspondent to Chisinau: “Present-day Russia needs to cope with a much larger set of external constraints. On the one hand, the global economic downturn has affected the Russian economy to an extent that exceeded all pre-crisis forecasts. On the other hand, faced with the economic crisis, Russia has finally realized that the balance of power in international relations has been changing, and these factors have kept Russian foreign policy in check. And that has gradually started to show in Russia’s stance on the Transdniestr issue as well.”
Nicu Popescu believes the Republic of Moldova needs to step up its efforts to make living conditions more appealing to the inhabitants of the breakaway region. In the expert charts, at present the country still ranks as the poorest European country. Spearheading reforms is Vlad Filat’s government, which must achieve two major goals: getting the country’s economy back on track and restoring its territorial integrity. Experts say that the separatists’ zeal might be toned down by the Moldovan government’s ability to successfully achieve those goals. The situation resembles Cyprus’s 2004 EU accession, which split political parties in Cyprus over the northern breakaway region with a majority Turkish-speaking population.
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2025-04-03
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