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Negotiations between Pridnestrovie and its neighbor ended abruptly in 2006 when Moldova unilaterally walked away from the talks

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - Over the past week, Russia has been conducting shuttle diplomacy between Chisinau and Tiraspol in an attempt to mediate the Moldovan problem where face-to-face talks have stalled for the past year and a half.

Consultations aimed at resolving Moldova's territorial claim to Pridnestrovie and its economic blockade of the territory took place over a two day period in both Chisinau and Tiraspol on 31 July and 1 August. Russia, the world's largest country and a key trading partner of both Moldova and Pridnestrovie, is interested in getting the status settlement talks back on track and having the two sides discuss their differences face to face.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, the meeting participants discussed the settlement of the Moldova/Pridnestrovie dispute and the prospects of resuming the talks in the 5+2 format. Special envoy Valeri Nesterushkin headed the discussions.

The 5+2 format includes five sides and two observers. The five full sides to the talks are Pridnestrovie and Moldova, along with so-called "guarantor countries" Russia and Ukraine whose job it is to guarantee that both Moldova and Pridnestrovie keep whatever agreements they settle upon between them. The fifth full party to the talks is the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE. In addition to these initial five, two new chairs were added at the table in 2005 but only with observer status. They belong to the United States and the European Union, whose two representatives can participate in the meetings with the limited rights afforded to observers.

Moldova ended talks with a walk-out

Moldova ended the most recent round of talks on 28 February 2006 by abruptly and unilaterally abandoning the proceedings.
In the words of Moldovan news agency Reporter MD, "the talks in the 5+2 format were halted in February 2006 amid misunderstandings between the conflicting sides."

" - But there was no misunderstanding," remembers a participant to the talks from the Pridnestrovian side. "The Moldovans knew exactly what they were doing."

They were playing hardball and they thought they had an ace up their sleeve. Although Pridnestrovie did not know it at the time, Moldova had planned - with help from Ukraine's outgoing cabinet - to begin an economic blockade of Pridnestrovie the same week.

Just days after Moldova walked out from the status talks, on 3 March 2006, Ukraine and Moldova closed the border with Pridnestrovie for all exports and ruled that no further goods could be shipped unless first processed with export customs clearance documents issued by Moldovan central authorities in Chisinau.

Originally, the talks were aimed at ironing out the differences between Moldova and Pridnestrovie and settling the future status of Pridnestrovie.

Also known as Transnistria and Transdniester, the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica (PMR) declared independence in 1990. Owing to a 17 year territorial claim which is still unresolved with Moldova, Pridnestrovie has not yet been able to obtain international recognition as a sovereign state. Although currently unrecognized, it functions as a 'de facto' independent country with its own flag, passports, national anthem, Central Bank, laws, parliament, constitution, police force and national currency.

Rejection of OSCE confidence building proposals

Less than three months before Moldova walked out of the talks, Russia and the West had both attempted, without success, to get Moldova to agree to an innovative package of confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs).

The package was unveiled on 8 December 2005 at OSCE headquarters in Vienna by Russian special envoy Valery Nesterushkin, the OSCE Moldova Mission's American chief at the time, William Hill, and the Mission's Military Consultant, French General Bernard Aussedat. At the Vienna briefing, it was jointly presented to an audience of diplomats and military attaches from some 30 countries.

The plans were issued by the OSCE's Conflict-Prevention Center, a multilateral group representing the 56 member countries of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. However, OSCE's 120 page "Confidence and Security Building Measures in Moldova", SEC.FR/537/05, SEC.FR/538/05, were never implemented by Moldova.

With widespread Russian backing, too, they would have been accepted in Pridnestrovie as well and would have helped both confidence building and security in the region, believes French General Bernard Aussedat. Unfortunately Moldova chose to ignore them and instead went forward with its own plans for an economic blockade of Pridnestrovie, ultimately resulting in the opposite effect.

See also:
» Moldova [1]
» Is Pridnestrovie a state? [2]
» The former Moldavian SSR: A non-country which broke in two [3]