In Tiraspol, OSCE parliament head meets with President and Parliament

Göran Lennmarker (left), President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, in an official visit to the PMR Parliament, Tiraspol

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - Göran Lennmarker, the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, met with top government officials and legislators Friday during an official visit to Tiraspol. Lennmarker headed a delegation of OSCE parliamentarians which was also accompanied by Louis F. O'Neill, the American Head of the OSCE mission to Moldova who was recently caught in a Moscow airport while trying to smuggle export-prohibited artwork out of the country.

The fact-finding mission met with Pridnestrovie's President Igor Smirnov and the unrecognized country's Minister of Foreign Affairs Valeri Litskai. In a separate meeting, they also visited Parliament for a meeting with ethnically Moldovan legislators and Speaker of Parliament of PMR Yevgeny Shevchuk, an ethnic Ukrainian.

According to PMR's Parliamentary press service, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Göran Lennmarker said, “It’s important to settle practical issues and do something for the people of Pridnestrovie. Only then should the negotiations between Pridnestrovie and Moldova be restarted and reanimated”.

Speaker of Parliament of PMR Yevgeny Shevchuk said, “It’s in our interests that the world community will have true information about the situation in Pridnestrovie and to have more contacts with international representatives. We hope that such meetings will result in more impartiality”.

After the meeting, Göran Lennmarker spoke to PMR's state-run news agency Olvia Press, and emphasized that successful status talks must take into account the opinions of both sides in the conflict. "In Europe, it is very important to listen the opinion of all parties," he said.

The two sides must also reach consensus on the development of the multinational peacekeeping operation which ensures that no one violates the 1992 ceasefire. Moldova is eager to change the make-up of the current peacekeeping mechanism, but Göran Lennmarker made it clear that this can not be allowed to happen without the agreement of all the sides to the original ceasefire negotiations.

Freedom of movement depends on Moldova

" - The OSCE Mission considers all disagreements, the opinion of both parties to the conflict and tries to find a solution," said Göran Lennmarker.

The OSCE parliamentarian also expressed his hope that there would be full freedom of movement in the region. Pridnestrovie sees the so-called economic blockade instigated by Moldova as the main barrier to free movement of goods and people.

" - We are against any barriers between states and we welcome the European practice," said Yevgeny Shevchuk.

" - We want to have no barriers between Pridnestrovie and Ukraine, nor between Pridnestrovie and Moldova. And it is worth noting that Europe doesn’t have such approaches as the Moldovan Government adopts - to force us to make political decisions by [creating] poverty."

In the eyes of Pridnestrovie, the main threat to free trade and free movement of goods and people lies in a series of recent moves by Chisinau. Moldova teamed up with neighboring Ukraine to close Pridnestrovie's borders on 3 March 2006 for any exports that weren't cleared by Moldova in advance.

This move, which Tiraspol calls an economic blockade, caused in more than $500 million worth of lost exports and soured the ongoing status talks which have still not restarted as a result. The talks the same week that Moldova and Ukraine introduced their customs clampdown.

Moldova abruptly left the talks with no explanation, hoping instead to return in a more favorable position after the customs clampdown. Pridnestrovie has instead refused to negotiate under economic pressure and has urged Moldova to return to its commitments under a 1997 agreement between the two sides which allows Tiraspol to engage freely in foreign trade on its own.

Despite its unrecognized status, Pridnestrovie - which is also known as Transnistria - conducts international relations and has received official delegations from 41 countries in its 17 year old history. In addition to bilateral relations, Pridnestrovie also interacts with international organizations through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) maintains a permanent mission in Tiraspol. (With information from vspmr.org)

See also:
» End of customs blockade? US wants free movement of goods and services