The phony pacifist love-in

Interviewed in the inaugural issue of Izvestiya’s local supplement, Izvestiya v Moldove, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin proposes full demilitarization of both Moldova and Pridnestrovie. High on something, or perhaps speaking in one of his now-customary drunken stupors, he says that he wants both sides of the Dniester to “liquidate” all tanks and armored vehicles, multiple rocket launchers, and artillery of any type, by both armies, within six months.

Thus rendering Pridnestrovie unable to defend itself, Voronin then proposes to create a unified force of both armies under Moldovan command. His proposal sees the manpower of the two armies on either banks of the Dniester river united in one army which will exclusively take its orders from Chisinau.

Vladimir Voronin claims that "the armies of Moldova and Transnistria are absolutely useless" to either side, but Pridnestrovie ("Transnistria") doesn't see it that way: It has no designs on Moldova, and no wish to take over Moldova's land. Its army is strictly of a defensive nature and trained to act in case Moldova ever wants to repeat its failed military adventures of 1992.

The pacifist love-in is one hundred percent phony. It is strictly for suckers, simply because no underlying changes in Moldovan policy have taken place that could objectively cause anyone to think that Moldova is for real ... or that Moldova actually means it this time.

Instead, openly declaring its territorial ambitions, Moldova still has its eye firmly on Pridnestrovie. Nothing has changed: Moldova still wants to incorporate all of Pridnestrovie into Moldova, under Moldovan rule and Moldovan sovereignty. Since few of Pridnestrovie's inhabitants want this willingly or voluntarily, it is hard to see how Moldova could ever achieve such a goal ... short of using military force again, just like the country tried to do in the past.

Disingeneously, Vladimir Voronin claims that he wouldn't think of such a thing. He drapes himself in peaceful intentions: “Evidently Moldova is not going to wage a war against anyone; and we don’t see any state in this part of Europe posing a military threat.”

Voronin gives the game away by his selective use of the word "state": He doesn't consider Pridnestrovie to be a state, or at least not a legal state. In his opinion, Pridnestrovie is "the Eastern part of Moldova" and therefore a legitimate target: It is not a state. Therefore, at any time Moldova wants to, it is open season on the Pridnestrovians again. The only thing that prevents this is the presence of the multilateral contingent of peacekeepers, including troops from Ukraine and Russia, which keep the sides apart. This is why Moldova wants the peacekeepers removed.

Pridnestrovie now has a duty to keep the peacekeeping forces in place and provide for the security of its citizens in the face of a large neighbor which has a history of unprovoked military aggression.

At any time it wants to, Moldova can easily end its neutrality with just a 50%-plus-one vote to amend the relevant constitutional provisions. A plebiscite is not needed, and Voronin is under no obligation to ask the people's opinion or call a referendum on such a crucial issue.

Many observers independently assert that Moldova's so called "neutrality" has nothing to do with reality. Moldova keeps troops in Iraq and allows NATO to have a permanent center in the country. The American-created military alliance holds regular war games in Moldova, just a few miles from Pridnestrovie's border and the scene of murderous Moldovan attacks fifteen years ago.

Aware of the black mark that Moldova's invasion of Pridnestrovie has given the country internationally, Voronin and his key adviser, Mark Tkachuk, are trying to convince the international community that they now espouse a doctrine of permanent neutrality.

Voronin’s phony demilitarization scam should be seen as backhanded way of breaking the 1992 cease-fire agreement which was required after an unprovoked Moldova launched a brutal war against the residents living on the other side of the Dniester. Pridnestrovie, on the other hand, never crossed into Moldova and never launched any attacks on historical Moldovan soil.

According to a U.N. report, the attacks by Moldova resulted in 100,000 refugees from Pridnestrovie. Only an estimated 1,000 were I.D.P.'s (internally displaced persons) who sought refuge in Moldova. The rest, 99%, sought safety in Russia and in Ukraine.

When outsiders were forced to intervene to separate the sides, Moldova signed a cease-fire in which Russian troops - among others - were granted the right to set up a demilitarized zone between the two sides. It is this signed agreement that Moldova now wants to backtrack on. Breaking their earlier promise - and, in effect, clearly breaking the terms of the peace - the Moldovans now insist on complete Russian withdrawal.

What will come instead? Earlier this year, Moldova showed its true hand when it endorsed an American proposal for putting NATO troops into the conflict. Moldova is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program, and in early October 2007 the country's government welcomed the opening of a new NATO center in downtown Chisinau. Military NATO exercises are held every year on Moldovan soil, and generally paid for with American dollars.

Moldova is also a partner in the American-led Coalition of the Willing which occupies Iraq. While other countries have already pulled back or are planning to bring their troops home from Iraq, Moldova has no such desire and has openly told the United States that it will stay in Iraq as long as George W. Bush wants them to.

A week after NATO opened its permanently staffed center in downtown Chisinau, the deputy Speaker of Moldova's Parliament, Iurie Rosca, called for Moldova to join NATO as a full member with no further delay. The country's Ministry of Defense has already planned this for several years. Starting in 2004, it scrapped old Soviet-made weapons and began an ambitious plan of retooling its armed forces to NATO standards, right down to the caliber of the live ammo which its soldiers use in combat. In 2005 and 2006, Moldovan army barracks were expensively upgraded and refitted to NATO standards as well.

In 2006, Moldova removed visa restrictions for foreign soldiers. Under the new rules, any foreign soldier - from any country whatsoever - can now enter Moldova freely, with no need for visas. The rules carry one single waiver: Russians are not welcome. If a Russian serviceman wants to enter Moldova, visas are still required (and will of course be refused automatically, say insiders with knowledge of the situation). The favoritism is clearly aimed at facilitating a future permanent NATO presence in Moldova.

And where NATO enters a conflict, the grass never grows again.
So much for peace...

Also by Michael Garner:
» With friends like these...
» Winning hearts and minds in Transdniester
» Right to self-determination vs. inviolability of borders
» Rethinking America's Transdniester policy
» No precedents in the unique case of Transdniester
» Echoes from Kosovo reach Pridnestrovie, bringing new hope to status talks