American diplomats grilled by Tiraspol media, civil society

Three American products, from left to right: Michael Kirby, Coca Cola and Louis O'Neill. In Tiraspol for a Q&A with local media

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - American diplomats are welcome in Tiraspol, the capital of Pridnestrovie, as long as they don't go gate-crashing without the proper credentials. That was the experience of Michael D. Kirby and his colleague, Louis O'Neill, during their visit Friday to the capital of Pridnestrovie.

Kirby, the U.S. Ambassador to neighboring Moldova, and O'Neill, who is the American head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, were in town for a get-together with representatives of local NGOs and civil society as well as private and state-run media. The meeting took place in the Tiraspol mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, and was a follow-up to an earlier charm offensive by Colleen P. Graffy, the U.S. State Department's public diplomacy officer best known for her views on humane force-feeding at the US-run Guantanamo Bay prison.

Ambassador Michael Kirby wants a status settlement that both sides can agree on. This is in line with Russian position for Kosovo. During his visit to Pridnestrovie - which the U.S. State Department refers to by its Romanian name, Transnistria - Kirby made it clear that he would like the role of the USA in the region to grow. And, according to the ambassador, American influence will start with a Country & Western concert, bringing the sweet sounds of Texas to Tiraspol:
" - To improve relationships with the citizens of the region, a free concert of an American Country & Western group will be held in Tiraspol," online news agency PMR News reported the ambassador as saying.

Human rights concerns on both banks of the Dniester

A former PMR vice presidential candidate, Grigoriy Volovoy, suggested to the U.S. Ambassador that the United States should support “human rights’ monitoring, so that public will be able to get acquainted with the situation and let the findings be known to international human rights organizations”. Volovoy shared a ticket with former presidential candidate Andrey Safonov, a fierce critic of PMR President Igor Smirnov, and finished third in a four-candidate race in Pridnestrovie's December 2006 presidential elections. The Safonov/Volovoy ticket campaigned in favor of unification with Moldova but got less than 4% of the vote.

Louis O’Neill, the head of OSCE Mission, answered Volovoy by pointing out that “the OSCE Mission is active in monitoring the human rights situation on both Dniester banks.”

Roman Konoplev, director of news agency Lenta PMR and its English language version, PMR News, wanted to know what role the American embassy and the Moldovan OSCE Mission is playing in democratizing Moldova and in bringing freedom to some of Moldova's political prisoners, in particular Valeri Pasat and Ivan Burgudji, a human rights activist jailed on trumped-up charges.

Louis O’Neill answered that “OSCE's Mission is attentively keeping eye on destiny of Valeri Pasat and Ivan Burgudji. The OSCE Mission undertakes and will continue undertaking efforts to liberate them.”

Michael Kirby, the US ambassador, added that “the American opinion is that human rights are violated not only here [in Transdniester], but in Moldova as well. If you read the report of the USA State Department, the human rights situation got worse in Moldova [but improved in Transdniester, ed]. We intend to undertake efforts to protect rights and freedoms without considering any territorial differences.”

Reaching a status settlement: Not without US

Opposition politician Alexander Radchenko, the leader of the PMR Social Democratic Party, asked the two American diplomats about a possible deal to be signed by Moldova over status settlement for Pridnestrovie. Radchenko's Social Democratic Party is in favor of unification with Moldova in a confederation or joint union state, whereas the majority of voters in Pridnestrovie prefer self-determination and independence.

The U.S. ambassador did not answer the question directly, but repeated the Moldovan position that peacekeepers - especially those from Russia - must go:
" - An inalienable element of the conflict resoluton involves the removal of Russian troops," said Michael Kirby, to which Alexander Radchenko asked: "Then you just need to remove the Russian troops and that’s it?”.
Michael Kirby said that for a compromise to be reached, it is necessary to stick to the current 5+2 format for status settlement talks, which involves the United States as an observer to the talks alongside the European Union.

Youth leader of the civil society Breakthrough movement, Alena Arshinova, explained to the U.S. ambassador that "Pridnestrovie wants freedom and independence, and struggles for it just like the USA did in its early history. We hope that when the situation will be evaluated, the results of our 17 September independence referendum will be taken into account. To some extent, the USA is an example for PMR. But we are against the double standards that we see as being very often used against PMR."

U.S. ambassador Michael Kirby closed by stating that: "We support the territorial integrity of Moldova. Otherwise, chaos will be the result all over the world because many countries have similar problems." (With information from PMR News)

See also:
» For Transnistria, US Ambassador wants solution that both sides agree on
» End of customs blockade? US wants free movement of goods and services
» US charm tour to Tiraspol fails to impress locals