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At the United Nations, a petition from the Foreign Ministers from three non-member countries has now been filed

NEW YORK (Tiraspol Times) - Three unrecognized countries on the post-Soviet space have filed a formal statement at the United Nations in New York, accusing Georgia and Moldova of a policy of regional imperialism. In the UN memorandum, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Pridnestrovie - also known as Transnistria, or Transdniester - note that such a policy is counter-productive, that it is not in tune with the wave of democracy sweeping the world, and that it will only lead to more serious regional conflicts.

The document is timed for an upcoming discussion of frozen conflicts at the U.N. General Assembly session. The session was initiated by Georgia and Moldova, as the unrecognized republics had - as part of the Soviet Union - formed part of the administrative territories which later become today's Republic of Moldova and today's Republic of Georgia. When Moldova declared independence, however, Pridnestrovie had been independent for a full year. At no time in history, going back thousands of years, was the territory of Pridnestrovie ever part of Moldova except in a "forced marriage" under Stalin which lasted less than fifty years. Pridnestrovie was never part of an independent Moldovan state at any time in history.

Now, at the United Nations, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Pridnestrovie have filed the memorandum to express their views on the existing conflicts.

" - The memorandum is quite a constructive attempt to look at the conflict from a different angle, not as Tbilisi (Georgia) and Chisinau (Moldova) do," comments international law expert Sergey Markedonov.
" - I think that to solve any conflict the participants should be guided by famous Roman principle “audiator et altera pars” which means that everyone has a right to express his opinion."
" - The UN platform is likely to be the most proper place to do it. Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdniester are ready to send their representatives there to inform the international community about the real state of affairs on the post-Soviet space. Three unrecognized republics blame Georgia and Moldova for regional imperialism, saying that it is a colonial-style war which Tbilisi and Chisinau are waging against their smaller neighbors. This is revealed by the fact that they are trying to preserve the so-called territorial integrity of their “mini-empires” by using force, not democracy."

According to the memorandum filed by the three non-UN members, Georgia and Moldova are presenting a threat to the world’s security since they are carrying out military and political provocations against the already de facto independent republics and imposing economic blockades on them.

" - So far, in the West, only the official positions of Georgia and Moldova have been heard. These two countries try to portray the conflicts as based in extremism and separatism, which is far from real state of affairs," says Markedonov.

The countries explain that they present no security risk whatsoever: "We are a threat to no one, but are simply concerned with the development of the economies of our countries."

Text of UN Memorandum

As a service to our readers, The Tiraspol Times reproduces the text of the memorandum as follows. This is an unofficial translation of the original document [1] published by PMR's state-owned news agency and signed by the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs Valeri Litskai along with the Ministers of the two co-petitioning states.

At the request of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Moldova, the U.N. General Assembly has agreed to examine the frozen conflicts and their influence on international peace, safety and development.

We would be able to understand that these states could be are worried if a threat to peace came from an outside force and would require action from the United Nations. But this is not the case here.

Moreover, the fact that a question like this is being presented to the General Assembly - and not in the Security Council, which is the proper place to deal with threats to world peace - is an additional factor which confirms that the real purpose of this demarche is not a concern for peace or security, but an attempt to use the General Assembly as a cover for support of predatory actions, and to base a set of already-planned military actions on a General Assebly statement ... military actions which are aimed at suppressing the legitimate wish of our people to live in peace and share the same rights as people of other countries.

In this regard, we ask the UN General Assembly to look at a number of facts related to the frozen conflicts.

First of all, the armed phase of the conflicts began when these former USSR republics - Georgia and Moldova - declared their independent statehood in a way which ran counter to international law as well as to existing Soviet Union law at the time. Specifically, they violated the then-valid 1990 USSR Law on Secession [2] ("Concerning the procedure of secession of a Soviet Republic from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.") This law directly give the people of autonomous entities the right to independently decide their own future. The law itself was written in complete conformity with the basic principles and standards of the United Nations Charter and other key international documents.

Secondly, aggressive wars of a colonial nature were started by Moldova and Georgia in response to the wish of our people to carry out their right to self-determination. The bloodshed was only halted with the aid of ceasefire agreements brokered with intervention by Russia. Today, military hawks in these two countries are dissatisfied by peaceful initiatives to solve the conflicts, and by the impartiality of Russia and other states which provide peacekeeping troops to monitor the ceasefires. Georgia and Moldova seek to start new military adventures against our people. They try to preserve the so-called territorial integrity of their “mini-empires” by using force.

Third, note that the formation of new states on the post-Soviet space will be completed with the recognition of the independence of Abkhazia, Pridnestrovie, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh. Territorial claims by Georgia and Moldova against their smaller neighbors is merely a remnant of Soviet imperialism.

This February, the 2006 General Assembly of the Council of Europe condemned the mass violations of human rights which were carried out by totalitarian Communist regimes. According to the resolution, the peoples of the former USSR were recognized as victims of the crimes which took place in that time. The resolution called for unambigous condemnation, which therefore makes it a paradox that the international community can support Georgia and Moldova in their quest to preserve the worst abuses of borders drawn by Stalin. These borders, a result of Stalin's plan for subjugation of smaller nations, created untold repression and even genocide in the former USSR.

During the time which they have existed as independent states, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Pridnestrovie have managed to effectively build functional, viable states, characterized by democratic government institutions. They have a vibrant civil society and democratic government, with the president and parliament elected in a multi-party system by popular vote. They have a free press, civil rights and liberties, an independent legal system, independent public institutions for the defense of human rights, and developed social safety nets.

We have managed to restore a war-destroyed economy and effectively overcome the economic and social consequences of the aggressive wars which our larger neighbors waged against us. We are a threat to no one, but are simply concerned with the development of the economies of our countries, and with solving social problems that still exists. We are ready to live as peaceful members of the world community and have friendly relations with all states.

Today, however, we fear that we may again be threated with a war of aggression in order to bring us into the "mini-empires" where we do not want to be. Moldova and Georgia are presenting their ultimatums to us: Submit to us voluntarily, or else we will use force. In our view, any solution of the existing conflicts by peaceful means must take into account the legitimate interests of our people. A military solution will plunge our region into chao and will bring unpredictable consequences.

The hypocritical invocation of "international peace, safety and development" is aimed to cover up what is really going on. The de facto independent states - Abkhazia, South Ossetia and PMR - do not threaten international peace, safety and development in any way. Rather, the threat is from Georgia and Moldova, two countries carrying out a policy of threats and provocations. For a number of years they have been usurping the functions of the Security Council, engaged in economic blockades, organized military and political provocations, even actions aimed at the existing peacekeeping forces.

Georgia and Moldova are now bringing foreign states into these conflicts. Provoking the relations between the leading powers, manipulated by the political interests of these two states, they aggravate the security position in the region.

This course of events should cause serious concern in the international community. We expect that the General Assembly will not allow the dicussion to be carried out on the provocative terms which have been set by Georgia and Moldova. At the very minimum, it is indispensable that an objective discussion of this question must include the voices of representatives of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Pridnestrovie. This is in line with earlier United Nations precedent in dealing with matters of unrecognized countries seeking freedom from colonial metropolitan states.

(End of unofficial translation by The Tiraspol Times.)

Earlier at the United Nations, Tiraspol Times collaborator and fellow journalist Matthew Russell Lee spoke to Mark Meyer, a lawyer who is lobbying against Pridnestrovie's right to live in freedom and self-determination. Unknown to the United Nations, and undisclosed to the panel, Meyer has strong commercial ties to the government of Romania, an ally of Moldova. A previously published text which attempted to show why Pridnestrovie has no right to self-determination did not disclose this fact either.

See also:
» Strange antics at the United Nations [3]