Transdniestria tries open border initiative for Moldovans

Border point: Transdniestria's Parliament abolished the entry fee and Moldovans will now be able to enter Transdniestria freely

BENDER (Tiraspol Times) - In an effort to strengthen the ties between the two countries on either side of the Dniester river, Transdniestria has passed a law to remove all entry fees from Moldovan citizens. The so called open border initiative is seen as a way to increase visits between Moldova and Transdniestria, and closer personal ties between the people on either side.

The PMR state budget for 2008 will not include any income from entry fee collection. Effective from 01 January 2008, foreign citizens will no longer be charged anything on Transdniestria's border, regardless of the purpose of the visit or whether they just transit the country. In a split vote of 28 to 15, the initiative to allow the free movement of people passed parliament and was signed into law by Transdniestria's President on Monday.

" - We should be open for Moldova’s citizens," said MP Grigore Diachenko, a pro-democracy lawmaker, in support of the open borders initiative.

" - When Moldovans see how we live, they will see that we are human beings just like them," added Sergiu Stanila, from Bender. "And hopefully they will let us live in peace, and allow us to have our own country, just as we allowed them to also have theirs."

"We should be open for Moldova’s citizens," says MP Grigore Diachenko, a pro-democracy lawmaker.

Until now, all Moldovan residents entering Transdniestria (officially: Pridnestrovie) have had to pay a migration fee equivalent to 5 PMR roubles and 30 copecks (approximately $0.63 USD). The fee was put in place on 15 April 2003 and proceeds for the past four years have been used to pay for border guards assigned to MVD, Transdniestria's Ministry of Internal Affairs.

For two out of the four years, inhabitants of Russia and Ukraine have been exempt from the fee: A decision by PMR's Parliament abolished the fee on 01 January 2006 for residents of these two countries, as well as for those who live in Moldovan villages within 500 meters of the border. Residents of Transdniestria, regardless of nationality, have never paid it.

Fee causing concerns over image

Legislators from the leading opposition party Renewal led the latest move to now abolish the entry fees for all travelers; including everyone who lives in Moldova. President Igor Smirnov and leading members of his cabinet wanted to keep the fees, and the PMR Minister for Internal affairs, Vadim Krasnoselski, personally appeared in Parliament for a question and answer session with the lawmakers before they voted to do away with the fee.

Among the most critical of the fee was Sergey Cheban, an ethnic Moldovan and an MP for Renewal, who said that "I’m sure that people who were born in PMR and currently reside in Moldova supported us, but we lost their support after imposition of the migration fee."

" - I support the idea that we had and still have friends in the Republic of Moldova. We lost some of them due to imposition of this fee. It’s a matter of ideology," said member of parliament Grigore Diachenko. "I think this fee should be canceled."

In the opinion of deputy Lubomir Rybyak, collecting the fee "harms the international image of Pridnestrovie."

Peter Pasat, another ethnic Moldovan member of Transdniestria's parliament, agreed: "I think the collection of this fee tarnishes the state’s image."

U.S. wants free movement of people and goods

Not all Moldovans in parliament wanted to remove the fee. Valerianus Tulgar, a leading ethnic Moldovan MP and head of the Union of Moldovans in Pridnestrovie, defended the fee and wanted to keep it, but was outvoted.

Others pointed out the risk of human rights abuse with a fee that could be construed as discriminatory.

" - Under the Constitution, our country is secular and democratic. We do not discriminate on the basis of nationality and this means that we don't accept racism," said
MP Ilia Vasiliyev. "So how do you explain a concrete fee based on nationality? My grandson lives in Moldova. When he comes to his grandfather, he’ll have to pay a migration fee. What if my grandson resided in Ukraine, and then didn't have to pay. Don’t you think it’s an infringement on our rights, on the rights of Pridnestrovian citizens?" he asked.

At the OSCE Permanent Council on 22 March 2007, US officials, commenting on the Moldovan-Transnistrian situation, urged free trade to resume as soon as possible. Specifically, a declaration was made public calling for the abolishment of "all obstacles on the way to free movement of people, goods, and services."

Earlier this week, Transdniestria abolished customs duties on a number of Moldovan products in an effort to promote the free movement of goods and services between the two neighbors.

Moldova happy with changes

Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said on Thursday that small, but sufficiently significant shifts have lately occurred in relations between Moldova and Transdniestria, and that the atmosphere surrounding the conflict is changing.

" - These changes include doing away with migratory fees for the citizens of Moldova, the relatively normal functioning of Moldovan schools on the left bank of the Dniester, and also the cancellation of the 100% customs duty on Moldovan goods which are exported to Transnistria," Voronin said in an interview with the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda in Moldova."

The Moldovan President sees these changes as "not a bad background on which to make progress."

Moldova itself has not yet made any moves towards how it treats its unrecognized neighbor. A customs blockade which was put in place in March 2006 is still in effect and has so far resulted in losses of over $700 million USD to Transdniestrian businesses. Over the past several weeks, Moldovan police have also confiscated thousands of Transdniestrian license plates which Moldova considers illegal. As a result, most Transdniestrian drivers are now fearful of visiting Moldova and prefer to either stay on their own side of the border or do their shopping in Ukraine, to the east.

The unrecognized, but de facto independent state of the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica (PMR) was established in 1990 on a narrow valley stretching along the eastern bank of the Dniester River. Armed conflict began in 1992, following the oppression of non-Moldovan, and mainly ethnic Russian, minorities.

See also:
» Free trade: Transdniestria cancels import duties on Moldovan goods
» Corruption at PMR border crossings hurts republic's image abroad

Opinion and commentary:
» Bridging the Dniester will require tolerance and mutual respect