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OSCE is present in the buffer zone and appreciates the work of the peacekeepers (file photo: OSCE)

BENDER (Tiraspol Times) - "The OSCE appreciates the actions of the peacekeepers in controlling the incident that occurred in the buffer zone on January 12," said Oleg Boyandin, spokesman for the OSCE Mission in Moldova, during a multilateral meeting of the peacekeeping supervisory Joint Control Commission in Bender on January 18.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, is a permanent party to the Joint Control Commission which oversees and controls the work of the four-nation peacekeeping effort.

On January 12, Moldovan police unilaterally established an illegal checkpoint inside Pridnestrovie's territory. An existing roadblock placed earlier at the entrance to Rogi, a small Moldovan-controlled village, was moved 670 meters further East. The move violated the established border of the territory of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, or PMR. The roadblock and checkpoint setup inside Pridnestrovie happened without notification, coordination or any form of prior permission from the Joint Control Commission or the peacekeepers reporting to the JCC.

In response to the illegal roadblock, Pridnestrovie massed police forces in the area. Each side brought about one hundred uniformed law enforcement in a standoff on the highway connected the north of Pridnestrovie with the south of the country. Although both sides were armed, no shots were fired and the arrival of a contingent of peacekeepers helped defuse the tense situation.

On January 13, at a session of the JCC, an agreement was signed that a joint Russian-Moldovan-Pridnestrovian peacekeeping check-point would be established on the site of the previous illegal Moldovan roadblock. In response, both Pridnestrovie and Moldova withdraw their police and turned the control of the area over to the peacekeepers.

OSCE's Oleg Boyandin stated that “both the commandant and military observers were acting well-organized and professionally, which prevented an escalation of the incident.”

Military observers quoted by news agency Regnum report that the situation in the zone is currently stable. The peacekeepers work according to rules signed by Moldova at the 1992 ceasefire, and refuse to be provoked by breaches of the agreement carried out by Moldovan troops. Further discussion of the Moldovan action will be continued over the coming days and a decision will be taken at the next session of the JCC, scheduled for January 25.

"Reservoir of good will" still left for OSCE

In the more than thirteen years since the OSCE has been involved in attempting to settle the conflict, the various parties have continually attempted to use the organization for their own advantage.

" - This is all part of a complicated game of internal political maneuvering in which the established government of the Republic of Moldova, as the member and chief interlocutor of the organization, clearly comes out ahead," believes political commentator Michael Garner.

A complaint frequently heard in Pridnestrovie (Transnistria) is that the visiting international delegations are monopolized by the Moldovan government and receive very little exposure to the Transnistrian point of view. The OSCE's local mission remains Moldova-centric and its American head of mission, a former U.S. State Department official, rarely ventures outside Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.

" - In all, the picture as seen by Transnistrian civil society and local leaders is neither flattering to the OSCE nor reassuring to those who consider the organization a major actor. It is considered hopelessly pro-Moldovan, which is dangerous at a time when Moldova is trying to change the peacekeeping format that has clearly worked quite excellent in preventing flareups and new fatalities since 1992. Unlike in Western Europe and, to a lesser extent, in the United States, where international organizations, whatever their effectiveness, occupy a significant part of the foreign policy space, on the basis of the feedback from Transnistria the conclusion would have to be that in this particular conflict, the organization's role is more minimal than most outsiders give it credit for," says Garner. "Nevertheless, although the Transnistrians take a skeptical view of the OSCE's accomplishments, acceptance of the OSCE remains high. There seems to be a reservoir of good will, and a willingness to cooperate with the organization in its efforts to prevent or mitigate further conflict."

As Pridnestrovie is moving forward with democratic reforms, the most bitter complaint comes from locals who feel that the OSCE is stuck in the past and "operating with the script that they used ten years ago" as one Kamenka-resident puts it. "They need to understand that time did not stand still here, and we have moved on, that there has been progress in democracy building. Maybe we are not the best democracy in the world, but we are certainly not the worst. If the OSCE would come and look at our elections first-hand, they could see this for themselves." (With information from Regnum)

See also:
» Transdniester opens its doors to OSCE team for weapons inspection [1]
» OSCE sees improved government; increased trust in Transdniester [2]