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Moldovan troops placed an illegal roadblock 700 m inside PMR territory, in violation of the ceasefire's buffer zone rules

DUBOSSARY (Tiraspol Times) - Although the illegal roadblock which Moldova installed this weekend near Dubossary has now been dismantled, and the troops have gone home, the conflict between Moldova and Pridnestrovie continues. Instead of facing each other with machineguns, each side is now arming itself with press releases and government-sponsored NGOs in order to put the blame on the other.

This weekend, the "frozen conflict" in the buffer zone between Pridnestrovie and Moldova nearly flared up as tensions rose near the Dniester river over an illegal roadblock installed by Moldova without prior notification of the peacekeeping forces who patrol the area. The roadblock, which Moldova unilaterally moved 700 meters into the territory belonging to Pridnestrovie, was removed by peacekeepers after a critical standoff which brought approximately 80 to 100 armed soldiers and police from each side face to face with each other on the strategically important Dubossary-Rybnitsa highway near the Moldovan-controlled village of Cocieri.

The roadblock was later described by official Moldovan news agency Moldpress as merely a "mobile post." According to the agency, on 12 January 2007, "the Transnistrian police abusively moved by about 600 metres the Moldovan police's mobile post situated on the Cocieri-Dubasari road."

" - But this is only about ten percent of the truth," explains a Ion Turcan, 48, a resident of the area.
" - What the Moldovan side doesn't tell you is that the roadblock was set up that very same day, on January 12. It was set up within the territory of Transdniestria, and right in the security zone. It was on the main Dubossary-Rybnitsa road, and when the local police was notified, they asked the Moldovan forces to move back to their own territory. That is about 700 meters away, or 680 to be exact. I don't know what was so abusive about this. The abuse is when you put armed men in someone else's territory."

Later on, the Joint Control Commission (JCC) has managed to settle the conflict, ruling the removal of the Moldovan post from the concerned zone. "A post of peacekeepers has been installed there, and it will work until 18 January, afterwards, we will decide", said a Moldovan representative to the Joint Control Commission (JCC), Ion Leahu.

Although initially unavailable for comment, Moldovan government minister Vasile Sova spoke briefly to the statecontrolled press only on Monday. He said that he "will not comment on this incident, because its settlement is within the JCC's remit," recognizing that the Joint Control Commission which oversees the peacekeeping effort is in charge of activities within the buffer zone. Under JCC rules agreed to by Moldova, no side can unilaterally establish posts, roadblocks or other control points. Nor can one side place armed guards in the territory of the other side without prior notification or mutual agreement.

"Provocations by the separatists"

The ruling by the peacekeepers and the assurances by Minister Sova and by JCC representative Leahu did not, however, resonate in the Moldovan and Romanian press where extreme nationalists were quick to blame to tense incident on Pridnestrovie.

On Monday, the hardline nationalist Moldovan newspaper Timpul de dimineaţă ran a frontpage cover story claiming that "Separatiştii provoke a new incident."

In a similar vein, Conflict, an information service sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), also notified its readers that "the incident, which happened in the Security Zone on Friday in the vicinity of the Moldovan village of Cocieri is another regular provocation by the Transnistrian regime," quoting a Moldovan government financed organization called Promo-Lex.

" - Tiraspol has a well-prepared scenario for such days. It knows very well how to act in each case", said a representative of the group. The article did not give details about the January 12 roadblock or inform its readers who installed it. Nowhere in the text did Conflict or Promo-Lex specify that it was illegally established in the buffer zone without permission from the multilateral peacekeeping force which Moldova is a member of and whose rules Moldova is a signatory to.

Mediators asked to strengthen peacekeeping efforts

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) called upon the two "Guarantor Countries", mediators Ukraine and Russia, for the strengthening of the peacekeeping operation in its present format.

The statement was conditioned by this weekend's standoff in the Security Zone on the Dniester river. According to Pridnestrovie's Foreign Ministry, Moldova's units implemented a provocative action by attempting to install a police post and to block the motor transport traffic along the country's main north to south highway. This violated the rules governing the ceasefire and the buffer zone in the conflict area.

" - Only the measured, restrained actions by Transdniestrian law enforcement ensured that the situation did not turn into the open, armed confrontation, which the Moldovan side tried to reach. Besides, the peacekeeping mechanism reacted quickly and exactly, an emergency meeting of the Joint Control Commission was organized", the document underlines.

The foreign ministry notes that the JCC was able to settle the incident and in accordance with the decisions taken, a lawful peacekeeping post was installed in this place to prevent the Moldovan troops from attempting to encroach on the territory again.

" - Moldova`s leadership continues pursuing an active policy, aimed at breaking the existing format of the peacekeeping operation. The instruments include constant actions aimed against the peacekeeping mechanism", the statement says.

The PMR Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Moldovan authorities' unilateral actions which could violate peace and stability in the region and classified such actions as another attempt to destabilize the situation in order to deepen the crisis in the Moldovan-Transdnistrian relations and to discredit the present format of the peacekeeping operation.

" - This event proved convincingly that the existing peacekeeping mechanism, including the activities of the Joint Control Commission remains as before the key element for maintaining peace and stability both in the Security zone and in relations between the sides. We call upon Russia and Ukraine for the strengthening of the peacekeeping operation and for taking necessary measures for the strengthening of the peacekeeping operation in its present format," the ministry said.

On January 12, disregarding the rules of the ceasefire agreement and Joint Control Commission regulations, Moldovan troops unilaterally attempted to set up an illegal roadblock and checkpoint in Pridnestrovian territory on the highway connecting Dubossary with Rybnitsa, two of the major cities in the north of the country.

The illegal checkpoint aimed to halt all traffic, in effect attempting to cut the unrecognized country - which is also known as Trans-Dniester or Transnistria - in two.

See also:
» Illegal Moldova roadblock is annexation attempt, says Igor Smirnov [1]