UN Security Council member: "All sides must agree to peacekeeping changes"

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: "All sides must agree on changes to the peacekeeping format" (photo: Itar-Tass)

ADDIS ABABA (Tiraspol Times) - At a meeting with the African Union this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blasted the recently adopted UN Security Council resolution on Darfur, Sudan. The resolution, which aims to replace the African Union's current peacekeeping operation with a United Nations force, was adopted without the proper consultation of the affected sides.

" - While supporting this idea in principle, we are convinced that the key rule of peacekeeping activities should be observed for its implementation, namely the consent of the sides," Lavrov said.

He said Russia, China and other Security Council members were convinced that consultations with Sudan's leadership on the issue could have led to the desired result. Russia and China, both veto-wielding members of the Security Council, abstained from the vote because details of the peacekeeping operation had not been agreed with Sudan.

" - Unfortunately, the resolution coauthors did not take this opinion into account," Lavrov said, adding that he hoped the Sudanese government would continue cooperating with the African Union and its mission in Darfur.

" - This mission plays an important stabilizing role and is a guarantor that may prevent new major bloodshed," he stated.

Consent principle key to peacekeeping in Pridnestrovie

The current peacekeeping force in Pridnestrovie is a multinational force created with the joint consent of both Moldova and Pridnestrovie in an agreement which ended the hostilities that led to a loss of approximately 1,000 lives in 1992.

In 1992 Moldova initiated a military conflict by sending troops to enforce its territorial claim over Pridnestrovie. Fighting ended with the signing of a ceasefire agreement which established a multinational Joint Control Commission (JCC) to ensure safety in the region. The troops in the JCC are provided in roughly equal numbers by Moldova (403 men), Pridnestrovie (411 men) and Russia, with the Russian presence being a bit smaller than that of the other two (385 men). In addition, Ukraine participates with a limited number of soldiers under an observer status.

Since 1992, the peacekeeping operation has been succesful in preventing any flare-up of the armed conflict. Not a single peacekeeper has lost his life in the past 14 years, causing the mission in Pridnestrovie to be highlighted as an example of one of the world's more successful and effective peacemaking operations.

As per the 1992 agreement with Moldova, which was co-signed by Pridnestrovie's President Igor Smirnov, Russia has a right to keep 2,400 troops in the region. However, today the number of Russian troops has been reduced to just 1,500. Approximately 700 of them are assigning to peacekeeping duties, with between 349 to 360 of those assigned to active duty in the buffer zone at any given time.

The remaining 800 troops are present in Pridnestrovie in order to guard and dismantle an old Soviet-era ammunitions dump in Kolbasna, northern PMR. The majority of the ammunition has by now been removed from Kolbasna under the supervision of OSCE, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Military equipment which was unpractical to remove has undergone on-site destruction. The U.S. State Department has recognized that the process of removal of ex-Soviet munitions and equipment has been carried out with efficiency since 2003.

Pridnestrovie - better known in English under its unofficial name, Transnistria - declared independence on 2 September 1990, nearly sixteen years ago. Although unrecognized by the international community, it has functioned as a sovereign country ever since and meets the requirements for statehood under international law. (With information from RIA Novosti)