5 August 2014

Moldova calls again on Russia to withdraw its troops from Transnistria

RFE/RL & AP: 05. August 2014

The government of Moldova in session.

The government of Moldova, where nerves are being tested by the crisis between Moscow and neighboring Ukraine, has called on Russia to withdraw its troops and weapons from Moldova's separatist region, Transdniester, according to RFE/RL's Moldovan Service. Here's more, with additional reporting by AP:


The Foreign Ministry appealed to Russia on August 5 to pull out its 1,700 troops and thousands of tons of weapons from Transdniester in accordance with commitments made at a 1999 summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Moscow on August 4 accused Moldova and Ukraine of trying to block Russia's access to its troops in Transdniester.

More than 1500 Russian soldiers with heavy military hardware is stationed in Moldova despite several calls from Moldova authorities to withdraw from country.

On April 10th Moldovan Ambassador to Russia, Andrei Galbur said in an interview with Moldova’s "Ziarul National" newspaper that his country maintains its position regarding the Russian troops stationed in Transnistria, Moldova’s separatist region.
“We demand the full withdrawal of the Russian armed forces from Moldova in compliance with the international commitments,” Ambassador Galbur said. He referred to the munitions piles based in Cobasna village and the troops which protect them.

Regarding the peacekeeping forces deployed in Moldova, the diplomat said that “only a multinational operation with authorized mandate of an international organization could have the necessary legitimacy and efficiency.”
He promised that this topic will be further discussed during the Moldova-Russia dialogue. The Ambassador emphasized back than that the Russian authorities “know very well” the official position of Moldova concerning the issue.

Moldovan Ambassador to the United Nations, Vlad Lupan also publicly stated during a UN meeting last week that the Russian troops stationed on the territory of Moldova do not enjoy the consent of the host country.
“The stationing of this military presence does not enjoy the consent of the Republic of Moldova and it is in contradiction with the international commitments as well as the relevant provisions of the Republic of Moldova’s Constitution,” Vlad Lupan said.

Transnistria is an internationally unrecognized entity proclaimed in Tiraspol on September 2, 1990, initially styled the Moldavian Transnistrian Soviet Socialist Republic. Currently known as the Moldavian Transnistrian Republic, this breakaway entity consists of a narrow strip of land (180 km by 32 km) nestled between the east bank of the Nistru River and the border of Moldova with Ukraine, on a small part of what used to be, between 1924 and 1940, the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

Russian soldiers manning a border station near Benderi, in Moldova's breakaway Transdniester, in June 2013
Russian soldiers manning a border station near Benderi, in Moldova's breakaway Transdniester, in June 2013

In 1992 escalated a conflict between Moldova and Russia over this territory. A cease-fire was signed the same year by president of Russia Boris Yeltsin and president of Moldova Mircea Snegur.

An agreement to withdraw all Russian forces from the trans-Nistrian districts of the Republic of Moldova was signed by Moldovan Prime Minister Andrei Sangheli and Russian Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin in 1994. It stipulated that the 14th Army was to leave the Republic of Moldova within three years, but the agreement was never ratified by the Duma, Russia’s legislature.

The Transnistrian conflict settlement is made within the “5+2” format. It includes representatives of the sides, mediators and observers in the negotiation process – Moldova, Transnistria, Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE (as mediators), and the US and the EU (as observers).

Moldova is the last country in Europe to still have Russian troops deployed on their territory.  

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