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Pridnestrovie (shown) is not a black hole and its image has improved a lot, Moldova now admits

CHISINAU (Tiraspol Times) - Transnistria has considerable improved its public image, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said Wednesday.

After years of claiming that Pridnestrovie (its official name) was a "black hole" supposedly earning "2 billion dollars from illegal weapons smuggling," a complete lack of any evidence has forced Moldova to backtrack. The country now admits that its independence-seeking neighbor is not involved in smuggling activities.

Voronin attributed what he views as "improvement" to the activity of EUBAM, a mission of the European Union that monitors the border between Pridnestrovie and neighboring Ukraine, as well as to new regulations for customs control over commodities exported from the unrecognized country and rules for registration of manufacturers based there.

" - No one speaks today about the contraband of commodities across this section of the border and no one claims that Transnistria's economy can function in the criminal format only," Voronin told reporters, according to news agency Itar-Tass.

"No one speaks of smuggling from Transnistria anymore, or claims that Transnistria's economy can only function criminally," says Moldovan strongman Vladimir Voronin.

No evidence of previous accusations

The government of Pridnestrovie has always steadfastly denied Moldovan accusations that it was ever involved in any sort of smuggling activities of any kind whatsoever. It accused Moldova of political bias, and attributed the unfounded smuggling accusations to a smear-campaign against independence which has been orchestrated for years by Moldova against its smaller neighbor.

Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin now admits that Pridnestrovie's public image is clean, but last year - in 2006 - he publicly declared that Pridnestrovie has been "non-stop producing weaponry." Voronin also said that the annual income obtained from the contraband with armament in Pridnestrovie amounted to approximately two billion dollars.

When pressed by journalists and researchers for details, Voronin refused to provide any evidence to back up his claims. To date not a single piece of the phantom "made in PMR" weaponry has ever been located anywhere in the world, nor has any money flow been uncovered to determine the location of the estimated $2,000 million USD per year in arms smuggling income.

In a report published by the U.S.-funded RFE/RL news service, the unsubstantiated claims of weapons smuggling were attributed to a campaign of destabilizing efforts by the Moldovan government to increase pressure on Pridnestrovie.

Openness and frequent inspections

With Wednesday's admission by Vladimir Voronin that Pridnestrovie is not involved in contraband, Pridnestrovie now hopes that Moldova has decided to end its destabilization campaign against the new and emerging country.

Pridnestrovie has welcomed the extension of the EU mission in the area, and the reports by European border monitors who testify to the fact that Pridnestrovie's government or its commercial companies are not engaged in any illegal activities of any kind whatsoever.

In November 2006, Pridnestrovie opened the doors to a weapons inspection team of 30 high-ranking officials from the OSCE who arrived on an arms inspection mission. The government in Tiraspol also cooperates fully with a team that monitors arms proliferation for the United Nations. In the latest reports which was published under UN auspices, Pridnestrovie was cleared on weapons smuggling accusations. The report praised the local government for its transparency and co-operation. (With information from Itar-Tass)

See also:
» EU confirms absence of weapons smuggling [1]
» Moldova repeats weapons claims against PMR; now as a "thing of the past" [2]
» Experts rule out weapons smuggling from Transnistria [3]
» No weapons smuggling from Transdniestria, EU border monitors say [4]
» Transdniester opens its doors to OSCE team for weapons inspection [5]
» UN Report clears Transdniester of weapons smuggling; Praises transparency and co-operation [6]

Opinion and commentary:
» Kafka and the Arms Smugglers [7]