Moldova president: First union with Transnistria, then peacekeepers leave

The president of Moldova, Vladimir Voronin, is the local Communist Party boss and also a former Soviet-era general (file photo)

CHISINAU (Tiraspol Times) - In an interview with Moldova's NIT TV channel on Friday, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin told viewers that he wanted foreign peacekeepers to withdraw from the Moldova/Pridnestrovie buffer zone. He made it clear that this move should happen only after status settlement had been agreed upon by the two sides to the conflict, and not before an agreement was reached.

Speaking about the peacekeepers, the Moldovan president recognized their role and function as such. He distanced himself from hardliners in his country who routinely refer to the peacekeeping forces as occupiers or use scare-quotes when referring to them as "peacekeepers".

" - Currently, Moldova and Russia are deciding what to do with the military peacekeepers in the Transnistria Security Zone," Voronin said, referring to the peacekeepers by the designation of their formal status which they were given when Moldova signed a cease-fire fifteen years ago.

Members of the Joint Control Commission, the peacekeeping supervising body, have repeatedly stated that the currently deployed peacekeepers can not leave prior to the confirmation of a comprehensive status settlement which must be agreed upon in advance between the two sides. This view is shared by Vladimir Voronin who made it clear to journalists that he wants the peacekeeping troops to leave, but only after what he sees as a possible future "re-unification" between the two two sides.

Located between Moldova and Ukraine, Transnistria (officially: Pridnestrovie) declared independence in 1990. Moldova never accepted this.

" - I put the question straight: upon re-unification of the country, there must be no foreign military here - no Russian, no Ukrainian, or from any other European state," said Moldovan president Vladimir Voronin, according to a report published by Infotag.

" - He is absolutely right, because you can't put the cart before the horse," said a viewer. "If Moldova tears up the cease-fire it will be seen as an aggressor, just like in 1992. First we solve the problems peacefully. When there is no more conflict, peacekeepers can leave."

Vitalie Andriescu, a Moldovan political analyst, agrees. Like Voronin, he also wants Pridnestrovie and Moldova to be united, but understands that peacekeepers must stay while this is not the case.
" - Russian peacekeeping troops in Transnistria, in the absence of progress in settling the conflict in 1992, is the surest guarantor of peace and security on the banks of the river," says Chisinau-based Vitalie Andriescu.

Nationalists "financed from Romania", says Voronin

Moldovan President Voronin believes his political opponents have no plan for how to convince Pridnestrovie to become part of Moldova, which is currently the only conflict settlement outcome that Moldova officially pursues.

" - They have no such plan, and will not ever have. They have only a political bias. And as soon as we begin approaching to solution of the problem, they start shouting about a treachery thus seeking to scare foreigners or about a secret plan Voronin allegedly has for the Transnistria problem solving. But in any case, plan or no plan, you have to come to parliament and make all plans public. So, what's the use of playing secrecy?"

Earlier this year, Voronin was accused by little-known commentator Vladimir Socor of having a secret plan which was not to the West's liking. The neo-con Vladimir Socor is the son of Matei Socor, a leader in the Romanian communist regime's propaganda apparatus, but he nevertheless managed to peddle this theory to The Economist. Voronin denied the unsourced accusations and said that all these years, the parties which are "financed from Romania" start crying any time the solving process begins approaching practical results.

Voronin claimed that his government was working towards status settlement on terms favorable to Moldova, but that "for this, we only hear criticism from Right parties." He added that "in their turn, the Moldovan opposition has no conflict settlement plan whatsoever" and called his political rivals "people who unleashed that conflict", so they will constantly be against settling it because their actions are paid for from abroad (a reference to Romania, which provided arms and military planners during the 1992 war).

Gagauz-style autonomy on offer

A skeptical TV viewer wanted to know how Voronin imagines governing a country which hypothetically in the future would include Pridnestrovie. To this, Voronin replied that he would give Pridnestrovie the same limited autonomy as Gagauzia, an administrative-territorial unit in southern Moldova which is home to 140 thousand ethnic minority Christians of Turkish origin.

" - The same will be with Transnistria. I proposed to make the head of Transnistria a member of the central Moldovan Government. But I hope this will be not the present-day leader of the region [Igor Smirnov], but a soberly minded, normal man, with whom it would be possible to solve a broad complex of unification questions, therefore he has to be a Moldovan Government member", said Vladimir Voronin.

However, in December 2006 a spokesman for the Gagauz people told Tiraspol Times that Pridnestrovie should not "be fooled into that kind of autonomy." Ivan Burgudji, a human rights activist, was jailed just days after he made his statement and has since been sentenced to a 12 year jail term by the Moldovan government.

It is widely acknowledged that Moldova has failed to live up to its promise of widespread autonomy to the Gagauz people and that they feel mislead by Chisinau into giving up its struggle for independence.

" - Gagauzia has unfortunately been transformed into an autonomous area deprived of its rights, where Chisinau handpicks its own appointees who continue a policy against the national self-identity of the Turkish-speaking but Greek Orthodox Gagauz people," says Burgudji before his arrest.

The Gagauzian political prisoner lamented that in the Gagauzian experience, too much trust was put in Moldova's parliament.

" - This is the trap that Gagauzia fell into. The problem is that the parliament of Moldova at any time can change the rules of the game. This, actually, is what happened in Gagauzia. Without specific international guarantees, supported by a firm base, without a clear method of sanctioning Moldova when they infringe on the agreement, without an equal recognition of both sides who participate in negotiations, without respect for will of the people of Transdniestria, as stated in their referendum - without any of these components, any deal made with Moldova will backfire on Transdniestria and become unconditional surrender. And we know about this "favor". Come to Gagauzia, talk to the people there, ask them how do they live and how they feel about this authority called Moldova, and you will understand what it will means for Transdniestria if it ever succumbs to becoming an "autonomous region" within Moldova. Today in Gagauzia, a paradoxical situation has been created - in reality, if not on paper, the powers of our "autonomy" are below the actual powers of local authorities of normal, non-autonomous district of Moldova. Nominally "independent" Gagauzia is practically maintained as a raw appendage, as a colony, near breaking point."

" - I sincerely hope," Burgudji sums up, "that Transdniestria will have enough wisdom not to bite on this fishing tackle and that our bitter experience from Gagauzia will be taken into account." (With information from Infotag)

See also:
» Human rights leader: "Elections in Gagauzia (Moldova) contrast badly with Transdniestria's"
» Vladimir Socor - Hound for Hire
» OSCE praises work of peacekeepers despite its alleged "pro-Moldova" bias