Russian Foreign Ministry Considers that Chisinau Pursues “Destructive”Policy in Transnistria

On Sunday, July 29, the peacekeeping mission on the Dniester marks the 26th anniversary. Commenting on this date, the State Secretary, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Grigory Karasin assured Kommersant newspaper that “the effectiveness of this operation was proved by time.” “Agreement on the Principles for a Peaceful Settlement of the Armed Conflict was the basis for the peacekeepers to assume immediately responsibility for the Security Zone regime control. The agreement became a long-term guide in the process of forming the legal framework for the Transnistrian settlement. Particular importance was given to the document by the fact that the commitments based on respect for the principles of the UN Charter and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and accepted by the parties were proclaimed from the very beginning as an integral part of the conflict settlement by peaceful, political means,” the diplomat recalled. “The subsequent experience convinced in the viability of this correlation, which determined the main purpose of the Joint Peacekeeping Forcesoperation mandate: the prevention of hostilities, the maintenance of stability, the provision of negotiations.” Grigory Karasin emphasized that “Transnistria is the only region in Eastern Europe, where military operation was disengaged after the surge of the peacekeepers.” “This operation deserves to be described in the textbooks on peacekeeping operations as a success. Not a single peacekeeper was injured, as well as the parties to the conflict were not engaged in a single firefight,” he continued. “Despite all the ups and downs in the relations between the parties to the conflict, their recognition of the inadmissibility of sanctions and blockades has a great political importance, although Chisinau underimplements them.” Moscow, he said, “is proud of daily joint activities by Russian, Moldovan and Transnistrian counterparts while supporting civil peace, interethnic harmony and the strengthening of Pan-European security.” “At the same time, we acknowledge the recent destructive behaviour of our Moldovan partners to this end,” the interlocutor of Kommersant said. “Unfortunately, last year the joint celebration of the 25th anniversary of the peacekeeping mission on the Dniester was thwarted, here we see populism, which is peculiar to modern Moldova. It was proved by the provocative resolution of the UN General Assembly adopted on June 22, 2018 “Complete and Unconditional Withdrawal of Foreign Military Forces from the Territory of the Republic of Moldova”, which was introduced by Chisinau. This initiative of Chisinau represents a threat to the fragile progress that has emerged in recent months in the Transnistrian settlement.” As a reminder, on July 19, the Moldovan parliament approved by a majority of votes the National Defence Strategy for 2018-2021. The document says that the republic intends to maintain its neutral status, but at the same time will deepen cooperation with NATO. One of the main threats to the country's security is the presence of Russian soldiers on the territory of Transnistria. “A military contingent of the Russian Federation (Russian military task force) is deployed on the territory of the Republic of Moldova without the legislative consent of the Republic of Moldova and in defiance of constitution. Their deployment poses a threat to national security amid a possible escalation of the situation in the region,” the document says. The Russian troops are deployed in Transnistria in two formats – as a Russian military task force(OGRV) and the peacekeeping mission. OGRV protects warehouses with ammunition and provides support to peacekeepers. In addition to the Russian troops, the peacekeeping mission includes military personnel of Moldova and the unrecognized republic of Transnistria. Chisinau insists on total withdrawing OGRV from the country willing to reshape the peacekeeping mission into a police or civilian mission with preferable transfer of it under an international mandate (under the auspices of the UN or the EU). Source: Kommersant