| Igor Smirnov seeks Russian support At the first meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko, such an issue as the prospects of Russia and Ukraine as mediators and guarantors of the Transnistrian settlement was probably discussed. In the near future, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin, who was in Kyiv on Sunday for the inauguration, is scheduled to officially meet with Viktor Yushchenko. And the 63-year-old president of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldavian Republic (PMR) Igor Smirnov (pictured) is now in Moscow, where he is invited to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Moscow State University (however, he himself did not study there, but the Tiraspol university works closely with the Moscow university). In his opinion, the Moldovan leadership “is pushing Russia and Ukraine out of Transnistria with the expectation that Western countries will come to the aid of Chisinau and land their “pacifiers” on the banks of the Dniester.”
On January 20, Moldovan police stopped the ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine Nikolai Ryabov and Pyotr Chaly in the security zone near Bendery and did not allow them to enter Tiraspol for negotiations with the leadership of the PMR. Representatives of Moscow and Kyiv were also detained on their way to Bendery for a meeting of the Joint Control Commission (JCC) of the joint Russian-Moldovan-Transnistrian peacekeeping forces.
The police referred to the procedure for visiting the Transnistrian region by foreign diplomats, introduced since the beginning of this year by the Moldovan Foreign Ministry. From now on, diplomats accredited in Moldova are prohibited from traveling to Transnistria without prior approval from the protocol department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to Moldovan Foreign Minister Andrei Stratan, this decision was a consequence of “destabilizing actions of the Tiraspol separatist regime.”
As Oleg Astakhov, co-chairman of the JCC from Russia, explained to Vremya Novostei, the work of the commission members is regulated by a 1992 agreement and a number of documents that do not provide for the introduction of any additional restrictions. And Russian diplomatic representatives have the right to disagree with the new demands of the Moldovan Foreign Ministry. If one JCC delegation can allow or not allow another to participate in a meeting of the commission, this does not contribute to its normal work. As Oleg Astakhov clarified, managing the security zone today is difficult, which is fraught with aggravation of the situation.
The Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors were going to discuss in Tiraspol a meeting of representatives of the parties and mediators in Odessa on January 25-26, initiated by Kiev, in order to unblock the negotiations. Now this meeting will not take place on time. This week the parties will discuss the possibility of holding it in the future, the OSCE mission in the Republic of Moldova told VN.
The Russian Foreign Ministry assessed Chisinau’s actions as “obviously unfriendly and contrary to the interests of maintaining peace and maintaining stability in the region.” The Foreign Ministry statement notes that “since last summer, the Moldovan side has suspended participation in the negotiation process and refuses direct dialogue with Tiraspol.”
As Valery Klimenko, leader of the Equality movement, suggested in a conversation with VN, during the visit of Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis to Moldova on January 15-17, the Europeans apparently promised the Moldovan leadership support in the upcoming parliamentary elections on March 6 - “in gratitude for an anti-Russian course." Natalia PRIKHODKO, Chisinau |
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