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Transnistrian Conflict on May 31 – June 13, 2004

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26 OSCE Ambassadors visit Chisinau

A delegation made up of 26 ambassadors accredited at the OSCE in Vienna, including the US, the Russian and the Irish Ambassadors, visited Moldova on 9–12 June. This was a documentation visit, during which the ambassadors wanted to familiarise themselves with the issue of the Transnistrian conflict resolution.

The programme of the visit included meetings with President Vladimir Voronin, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Stratan and the Minister of Reintegration Vasile Sova, as well as a meeting with representatives of political parties and civil society organisations. The delegation also visited Transnistria where it met with members of the break away administration.

The US Ambassador at the Permanent Council of the OSCE Stephan Minikes told a press conference organised in Chisinau at the end of the visit that, in the opinion of the US Administration, the Russian Federation has plenty of leverages to determine the Transnistrians to unblock the process of withdrawal of Russian weapons from the region. Minikes expressed on behalf of his colleagues from the delegation the OSCE’s concerns regarding the halt in this process and reiterated that the commitments taken by Russia at the OSCE summit in Istanbul in 1999, including the one to withdraw its troops from Moldova, may not be dissociated from the adapted Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe. In this context, Minikes mentioned that the withdrawal of Russian troops and weapons from Transnistria is an essential precondition for the ratification of the treaty by the NATO Member States.

Presenting the conclusions of visit to Moldova of the members of the OSCE Delegation, the head of the delegation, Ivo Petrov, Bulgarian Ambassador at the OSCE, called abnormal the current situation at the eastern border of Moldova. He said that the Bulgarian Chairmanship of the OSCE will intensify its efforts with a view to identify as soon as possible a final solution for the Transnistrian conflict, and underlined that the Bulgarian diplomacy believes that the political plan developed by the mediators under the OSCE aegis last year is a very good basis for this.

President Voronin proposes international monitoring at eastern borders

In his address to the International Conference “Building Security Along Frontiers: the Role of the OSCE”, held on 10 June in Slovenia, the Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin pleaded for the institution, under the OSCE aegis and with the EU support of an international mission for monitoring the eastern border of the Republic of Moldova. According to a communique by the Presidential Press Service, Voronin said that that such a monitoring mission on the Transnistrian segment of the Moldovan-Ukrainian border would constitute “a good example of applying into practice the experience of European states in the field of border management” as well as “an example of successful cooperation between the EU and the OSCE in this field”.

President’s Voronin plea comes after almost two years of unsuccessful talks with the Ukrainian authorities to ensure an efficient control at the Eastern border of Moldova. According to some statements made by President Kuchma though, Ukraine is not interested to introduce tight controls over its border with Transnistria because most of the external trade of the latter is being done through the Ukrainian ports of Odessa and Il’ychev, which fact brings Ukraine enormous financial revenues.

Political detainee Alexandru Lesco released after serving full sentence

On 2 June the political detainee of the Transnistrian regime Alexandu Lesco was released from the Tiraspol jail after the expiration of his detention term to which he was sentenced in 1992 together with other members of the “Ilascu Group”. After the release, Lesco made a brief statement for the press in which he said that he did not recognise his sentence and that he hoped that he and his other mates from the “Ilascu Group” will be rehabilitated by the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. Notably, although the release of Lesco had been announced by the Transnistrian authorities beforehand, no Moldovan official came to meet him and the car in which he was driven from Tiraspol to Chisinau was not escorted by the police.

After the release of Alexandru Lesco and earlier of Ilie Ilascu, in the Tiraspol jail are still detained Tudor Petrov-Popa and Andrei Ivantoc. These, together with lesco and Ilascu started a case at the ECHR against the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation which they have accused of flagrant violations of human rights.

May 10–30, 2004 June 14–27, 2004