Spanish Foreign Minister, head of OSCE, in talks with Tiraspol government

Spanish foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos is due to arrive in Tiraspol as the current OSCE-head (File photo: State.gov)

VIENNA (Tiraspol Times) - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, has announced that its current Chairman-in-Office will visit Chisinau and Tiraspol on 7 October and 8 October 2007. Miguel Ángel Moratinos has scheduled talks with government officials of both countries in an effort to work out better relations and inch closer to a status settlement in their long running territorial conflict.

Relations between Moldova and Transdniestria (officially: Pridnestrovie) have been tense since 1992 when Moldova launched a war against its unrecognized neighbor. After more than 1,000 dead, a ceasefire was signed but no formal armistice has yet been agreed-upon and Moldova refuses to discuss Transdniestria's strongly held wish for independence.

During his visit to Tiraspol, Moratinos is expected to urge Transdniestria's elected government officials to return to the negotiation table and restart settlement talks with Moldova. Talks were interrupted in the last week of February 2006 when Moldova unilaterally abandoned them, to the surprise of the delegations of Transdniestria, Ukraine, Russia and the 56-member country OSCE.

Transdniestria (officially PMR, short for the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica) is located between Moldova and Ukraine.

In the same week that Moldova left the talks - citing "irreconcilable differences" - the country launched a customs blockade against Transdniestrian exports. This sort of pressure is illegal under the 1997 agreement signed between the two sides, and Transdniestria has stated that its government will not continue negotiations as long as they are held under pressure.

Conflict resolution specialist

It is hoped that the visit of Miguel Ángel Moratinos will help convince Moldova of the need to revert to the previously agreed-upon format for trade relations and ease tensions between the two sides.

Moratinos draws on vast experience in international conflict resolution, and for seven years between 1996 and 2003 he was European Union Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process.

The Minister's visit to Transdniestria comes as the OSCE's 56 participating States prepare for the 15th Ministerial Council to be held on 29 and 30 November in Madrid, Spain.

The Chairman-in-Office is set to discuss ways to restart talks on a Transdniestria/Moldova settlement with President Igor Smirnov, Speaker of Parliament Yevgeny Shevchuk and Minister of Foreign Affairs Valeri Litskai. In Moldova, he will meet with Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin, Speaker of Parliament Marian Lupu, and Foreign Minister Andrei Stratan, among others.

Capacity for international relations tied to statehood

The ability to independently receive foreign delegations and conduct negotiations with them is an important feature of statehood. In this case, legal scholars point out that - technically speaking - the republic of Transdniestria already meets the requirements for statehood under international law. According to the Montevideo Convention and customary international law, a country must have a defined territory (regardless of whether there is a dispute over it), a defined population (large or small), a government (elected or any other system), as well as a "capacity to enter into relations with other states".

Apart from having a territory, a population and its own government, Transdniestria also possesses the capacity to enter into relations with other states. And, say its supporters, "not only does Transnistria have the capacity. It has actual relations, too."

In the recent past, dozens of agreements have been signed with Russia, Moldova, Ukraine as well as with the OSCE which is a governmental organization that represents states only. The OSCE keeps a permanent office in Tiraspol, the capital of Transdniestria.

Relations with other states also include official visits in which the head of a state is referred to by his official title by the government of the receiving state, or visits where visitors to Transdniestria arrive on diplomatic passports and arrange their meetings through official channels with the entity acting as a government for the area.

During a recent visit, Russia, a member of the U.N. Security Council, received Transdniestria's President Igor Smirnov in his official capacity, followed by a formal press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia which referred to Smirnov as President of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica (Transdniestria's constitutional name).

In Transdniestria, which is also known informally as Transnistria or Trans-Dniester, both Parliament and the PMR Ministry of Foreign Affairs frequently receive delegations from a number of countries as well as international organizations. Past visitors have included the United States, Britain, the Council of Europe, OSCE and nearby countries such as Ukraine and Russia. Transdniestria's neighbor to the west, Moldova, has never conducted an official visit and refuses to recognzie the existence of the de facto independent state on the other side of the Dniester river.

See also:
» PMR's Foreign Ministry receives official visit by Spanish delegation
» Council of Europe meets PMR Parliament; evaluates democracy progress