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The Parliament building of the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica, also known informally as Transdnestr or Transnistria

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - No one can decide the future of Transdnestr (officially: Pridnestrovie) except for the people that live there, says Yevgeny Shevchuk, the unrecognized country's Speaker of Parliament. This was the message to the European Union during an official visit to Tiraspol Monday of the EU's Special Representative, Kalman Mizsei.

In Tiraspol to meet with Parliament, Mizsei heard from the 38 year old local-born Speaker of Parliament and was told that the future of the region's 550,000 inhabitants is in their own hands: They must decide, in free and fair elections, if they want independence or want to be part of Moldova.

" - The status settlement process [about the future status of Transdnestr, .ed] must in any event depend on the opinion of the people of Pridnestrovie. It must also safeguard the full observance of human rights."

Suffering under what Pridnestrovie sees as an economic war waged against it by neighboring Moldova, an estimated $500 million US Dollars was lost in the first year alone. This is badly affecting the ability of the local government to provide social services and other human rights to its 555,000 residents.

Moldova's politicians are entirely to blame for the responsibility over an increasingly worsening economic situation in Pridnestrovie. The latest move, set to take effect on 1 July 2007, is a clampdown not just on exports, but also on imports, too: From that date, not a single item - of any kind - can enter the landlocked mini-state without first being cleared and approved by Moldova.

EU Special Representative Kalman Mizsei, left, met with PMR Parliament Speaker Yevgeny Shevchuk in Tiraspol. (Photo: New Region).

" - We let the representative of the European Union know our concern about the decision by Moldova to take effect on 1 July 2007," said the head of Parliament. "At the same time, we communicated our full willingness to work out a mutually agreeable form of control of imports and exports which satisfy the requirements of both Pridnestrovie and Moldova."

Parliament considers the move by Moldova to be the latest in a series of hostile actions which are seriously undermining the economic and human rights of everyone living on the left bank of the Dniester River.

Human rights at risk

In what is increasingly turning into low-intensity economic warfare, a number of basic provisions of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights are being breached.

Article 17, 2, says that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property. Article 22 makes it clear that everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security. This is followed by article 23, stating that everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

In article 25 we learn that everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family.

The international order is also commented upon. Article 28 assures everyone of the entitlement to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Some in Pridnestrovie are now asking if Moldova has read article 28, and if so, if they understand its meaning alongside the implications of recent decisions to further toughen the stranglehold on the local economy.

Resumption of status settlement negotiations

Pridnestrovie wants to restart status settlement talks in the previous format, free from outside pressure and what President Igor Smirnov has frequently referred to as "economic blackmail." Since 3 March 2006, Moldova and Ukraine has - with EU help - implemented strict customs regulations which, in the eyes of Pridnestrovie, amount to an economic blockade on its borders with the goal of strangling the small country's fragile economy. In the first year alone, Pridnestrovie forewent $500 million in lost export earnings and taxes.

During Kalman Mizsei’s official visit, he wanted to find out how parliamentarians view the chances of kickstarting negotiations between Pridnestrovie and Moldova in the current “5+2” format, or if another solution should be explored.

The Speaker of Pridnestrovie’s Parliament told Mizsei that first of all, successful talks should be based on stabilization of the economic situation: Removing uncertainty and pressure from the economy is the first and the most important step towards resumption of dialogue in the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian status settlement talks.

Yevgeny Shevchuk believes that the success of negotiations depends on the level of confidence and trust which the sides have on each other. Unfortunately Moldova’s actions aimed at control of the foreign trade of Pridnestrovie's companies can’t be regarded as confidence-building measures and striving for an open and constructive cooperation.

Yevgeny Shevchuk said, “We raised our concern over the current situation with the EU Special Representative for Moldova and declared our readiness to discuss issues that will arise while working out an appropriate mechanism acceptable for both Pridnestrovie and Moldova”. (With information from vspmr.org)

See also:
» Why not a referendum to decide the issue? [1]
» OSCE offers to organize elections in Pridnestrovie [2]
» Gene Cohen: "Don't play games with democracy and human rights" [3]

On the web:
» UN: Universal Declaration of Human Rights [4]