Moldova and Russia at odds over Trans-Dniester peacekeepers

The 'de facto' republic of Trans-Dniester has been independent since 1990 and fought back a Moldovan attack in 1992 (File photo)

CHISINAU (Tiraspol Times) - This week, in an interview with the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia long ago fulfilled its commitments under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) regarding troop withdrawal from Moldova.

" - In Moldova, Russia does not have any heavy weapons stipulated in the CFE Treaty," Lavrov said. He also specified that the peacekeeping forces work in the buffer zone with Moldova's’s consent. In addition, a small contingent guards the remains of an ammunition depot which can be withdrawn within months of a final status settlement of the territorial conflict.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made it clear that there are no Russian troops in the contract sense, i.e. conventional forces having heavy weaponry, in the Republic of Moldova, and that - in his opinion - Russia has long ago met all its CFE-related commitments in the framework of the 1999 OSCE Istanbul Summit accords.

At the current time, Russia no longer has any troops in Moldova proper. It has peacekeepers in Transdniestria, between the Dniester river and Ukraine, which are there under an agreement signed by Moldova's president. Although the agreement allows for Russia to keep 2,500 peacekeepers in the area, this number was reduced to 500 in 1998; nearly a decade ago.

Enough already: Anatoly Antonov, Russia's top CFE diplomat, doesn't think that the CFE Treaty ought to be held hostage by ambitious politicians of "a particular country..."

" - Moscow has no plans to increase its forces, though much will also depend on our partners and their readiness to show restraint in the military sphere," said Lavrov.

CFE Treaty "held hostage" to political games

Russian diplomat Anatoly Antonov, the head of his country's delegation to CFE Treaty talks, also confirmed what Sergei Lavrov said: Russia had fulfilled its Istanbul obligations by withdrawing troops from Transdniestria. He added that even so, some politicians attempts to use of the situation to "solve the problems of the frozen conflicts" and - without naming names - stressed that control over conventional forces should not be held hostage by ambitious politicians of a particular country.

The message fell on deaf ears in Moldova, where the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement Thursday which accused Russia of "non-fulfillment of its international obligations."

According to Moldova, all peacekeepers must immediately pack up and leave Transdniestria, lock, stock and barrel - and this, claims Moldova, is part of what the CFE Treaty is about.
The demands from Moldova have no chance of succeeding, and thus merely reinforced the view by Anatoly Antonov and Russia that "a particular country" is preferring to play cheap political games with the CFE Treaty rather than looking at ways to actually move forward in an open, constructive format of mutually beneficial negotiations.

Angry reaction from Moldova's Foreign Ministry

Reacting to Lavrov's statements, Moldova's Foreign Ministry announced that it views the so-called "Istanbul Commitments" as a promise by Russia to withdraw its conventional armed forces from Transdniestria by the end of 2001 and to withdrew its remaining military presence - including peacekeepers - by the end of 2002. This is disputed by Russia, which points out that a timetable for simultaneous conflict resolution was broken by Moldova, and that peacekeepers can not leave the area before the territorial conflict is peacefully resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

Nevertheless, Moldova criticized the fact that although the conventional forces already left Transdniestria by the end of 2001, the peacekeepers remained:

" - By the end of 2001, Russia pulled out only a part of the conventional armed forces from Moldova and namely the armament limited by the CFE Treaty," said Moldova, referring somewhat hypocritically to a treaty which Moldova is not a party to, since the treaty has not been signed and ratified by Moldova, and thus lacks legal force in the country.

Multinational peaceekeepers: Five-sided format

The current peacekeeping force is a five-sided multinational operation which consists of troops from Moldova, Transdniestria and Russia, with the smallest number of peacekeepers being provided by Russia. In addition, Ukraine also supports the force with Ukrainian military observers, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the fifth partner. OSCE has observer status in the Joint Control Commission which oversees the peacekeeping operation, and where all decisions are made on the basis of consensus.

Most of Russia's troops are peacekeepers which are in the area under a legal mandate, and none are in Moldova proper. Officially, however, Moldova assumes that Transdniestria is part of Moldova. This version is open to legal interpretation because, at this point in time, Transdniestria merely represents an unfulfilled territorial claim by Moldova and can not under objective standards be said to be an integral part of Moldova. Transdniestria declared independence in 1990, which is one year before the Republic of Moldova was founded. At no point in its independent existence has Moldova ever included Transdniestria, nor been able to exercise sovereign control of any kind over the area which it maintains its nearly two-decade old claim over.

Moldova interprets the so-called "Istanbul agreements" as meaning that Russia must withdraw its presence unconditionally, systematically and completely. Russia, on the other hands, points out that the agreements clearly specify a connection between the withdrawal of its men and the settlement of the Transdniestrian/Moldovan conflict.

Russia's reading of the agreement is correct, and although Moldova now understands this point, it still refuses to budge. As an alternative, it is trying to push for an idea hatched in Washington D.C., whereby the peacekeeping mandate will be transformed into a mission with U.S.- and NATO-presence under the guise of a so-called "civil multinational mission."

" - Of course, this is a bit of a sick joke," says a peacekeeper who asks not to be identified. "Because the Americans will bear weapons and so will all the other new troops that Moldova wants the NATO countries to bring into the area. So there is nothing civilian about that."

"Moldova started this," locals in Tiraspol say

In Tiraspol, several locals expressed their opinion that Moldova was once again over-reaching with its demand that Russia's peacekeepers should be sent packing.

" - Moldova has a lot of nerve to come and talk this way about the peacekeepers, and I will tell you why," says Svetlana Rudneva, a student, in a typical opinion.

" -First of all, they brutally attacked us in 1992 and we never did anything to them. They started the whole conflict when they ordered their soldiers to invade Bendery and Dubossary. We never crossed into their territory, and we have no intentions to do that, ever. So if it wasn't for their killings, and everything that Moldova started, there wouldn't be a need for the peacekeepers here in the first place," says Rudneva.

" - But what really gets me angry is that they are talking about the peacekeepers is that they are not even in Moldova. They are stationed in Pridnestrovie, and this is an area that Moldova has no control over whatsoever. There is not a single soldier in their part, so they can just stop being so hysterical and cool it." (With information from Reporter, RBC News)

See also:
» Russia says "Istanbul Commitments" complied for Transdniestria, Abkhazia
» Transdniester peacekeepers continue with Russian participation
» Russia has complied with Istanbul agreements, its NATO official says

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