Foreign Affairs on July 30 – August 30, 2005

| e-journal #56 |

Russian Federation stance towards Transnistrian secessionist regime and Russian troops stationed continue to trouble the relationship between RM and Russia. Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration issued a statement in response to the refusal voiced by Serghei Ivanov, Russian Ministry of Defense to withdraw troops from Moldova. The press release reads: a) “Chisinau position as regards withdrawal of Russian troops and munitions in strict compliance with Istanbul assumed obligations remains firm; b) Minister Ivanov’s declarations coupled with other recent statements from Moscow officials indicate that they are not ready to align to the new strategic political realities of the modern world; c) by citing peacekeeping function and guarding the weaponry stationed on the soil of the RM, the Russian Minister shows that he is not familiar with the agreements existing between RM and Russian Federation; d) Russian Minister’s statement is detrimental to preserving, consolidating and developing good relations between the two countries; e) frequent references made by the Russian officials to the position hold by secessionist leaders, who are supporting the Russian military presence on the soil of the Republic of Moldova, indicate that Russian Federation should clarify for its citizens residing in other states what does citizenship mean, as well as other related norms”.
Moldovan and Slovak Ministries of Defense signed a Cooperative Agreement. The Slovak part will provide assistance to the Republic of Moldova for: a) military reform; b) joint Moldovan-Slovak squad to provide humanitarian relief in the conflict areas.
A delegation of the European Commission paid an official visit to Chisinau on August 24–31 to discuss the draft Memorandum on the status of the would-be European Mission to Monitor Moldovan-Ukrainian border. In an interview to Radio Free Europe, Patrick Child Head of Office, EU’s Foreign Relations Commissar indicated that European experts were to work in Chisinau, Kiev and in the field at the Moldovan-Ukrainian border. As a result they were to complete the Memorandum and define the status of the Mission.
The Mission is a follow-up to the joint letter of the Moldovan and Ukrainian Presidents addressed to European Commission on June 2, 2005 asking for assistance in securing the Moldovan-Ukrainian border on the Transdnistrian portion. Under the Memorandum, the Mission is to function on a long term at the customs check points on Ukrainian side, European experts being eligible to observe the entire process starting with customs to border control.
Still, Ukrainian side does not agree to a permanent monitoring of the border, rather they plead for a temporary mission. According to Dmitriy Tkaci, chief negotiator on Ukrainian side, given the differences in Chisinau and Kiev positions European Commission should consider signing separate agreements with Moldova and Ukraine, as a three-side agreement would be very difficult to sign.
One week prior to the experts’ visit to Chisinau, in an interview to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung President Voronin stated that a temporary monitoring mission would lack efficiency as “it takes five minutes to smuggle, not 24 hours”. Probably, this comes in response to Tiraspol leader’s claims that he supposedly convinced Ukrainian President in July to cancel Ukrainian Prime-Minister Yulia Timoshenko’s decision of May 26, 2005 allowing the export of Transdnistrian goods on Ukrainian soil provided they are accompanied by documents in conformity with RM law.
It seems President Voronin was satisfied with the European Commission’s memorandum. Voronin expressed his gratitude to EU for this project, mentioning that: a) EU involvement in overseeing the security of the Moldovan-Ukrainian border might boost regional security; b) would help RM and Ukraine apply European standards in customs and border control; c) would contribute to European accession of RM.

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Foreign Affairs on July 30 – August 30, 2005

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