Transnistrian Conflict on November 8–21, 2005

| e-journal #62 |

The intensification of Romanian diplomacy efforts with regard to the Transnistrian problem noted in the past weeks has been maintained during the period covered here. During an interview with the Radio Free Europe, the Romanian Foreign Minister, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, stated that the presence of Romania will be an attempt to “counterbalance the format of the dialogue in which the mediators — OSCE, Russia and Ukraine, discuss plans that do not fully correspond to Moldova’s expectations”. Mihai Razvan Ungureanu also said that the solution to the Transnistrian problem needs to be found “within the margins of the Moldovan statehood, in the formula of an extended autonomy, free of any federative or confederative speculation.” With reference to his recent meeting with the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, Ungureanu said that Transnistria was among the issues tackled and the two examined the possibilities of coordinating US and Romania’s positions with the upcoming EU border monitoring mission. Ungureanu underlined that his meeting with Condoleezza Rice took place after his visit to Moscow where “Romania’s right to think strategically at the eastern borders of the EU and NATO had been recognised, as well as Romania’s strategic interest towards the security of its most proximate neighbour”.
Following the recent resumption of negotiations on Transnistria, Romania drafted a wide programme of contacts with representatives of the mediators and conflict sides. The programme was launched with the visit of the Moldovan Reintegration Minister, Vasile Sova, to Bucharest on 3–4 November. On that occasion, the Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu said that Bucharest is interested to establish a permanent channel of communication with Chisinau in the Transnistrian problem and is ready to support Moldova on the basis of its special relations with the EU and the US.
On 8 November Bucharest was visited by the Russian Foreign Minister, Serghei Lavrov, who also had a meeting with his Romanian counterpart. After the meeting, Lavrov told the press that the presence of Russian militaries in the Transnistrian region is a positive moment. According to him, Russia stopped the withdrawal of its weapons from Transnistria in 2003 because Chisinau changed its position in the negotiations, and alluded that the withdrawal will be resumed only when a solution to the Transnistrian conflict is identified that would suit Russia. At the same time, Lavrov reconfirmed Russia’s support for the Yushcenko settlement plan, but said that Russia is now elaborating the principles contained in the plan in the form of some “unofficial proposals”, which Lavrov also called a “settlement roadmap”. We would like to remind the readers that after the resumptions of negotiations in end October, the Russian Defence Minister, Serghei Ivanov, said that the Russian army will stay in Moldova to “maintain peace” until a political solution to the Transnistrian conflict is identified. The problem of Russian military presence in Transnistria was also discussed during the visit of an official Moldovan delegation to the NATO headquarters on 10 November. According to a communique of the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, NATO states representatives supported Moldova’s position that the complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Russian military from Transnistria will create the necessary conditions for the ratification of the adapted Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty. The problem of ratification of this treaty is likely to feature on the agenda of the OSCE Ministerial Summit to take place on 5–6 December in Ljubliana. According to some observers, this year’s OSCE Summit risks to fail for the third time in a row to adopt a final document due to the disagreement between Russia and other OSCE states with regard to its military presence in Moldova and Georgia.
During the same period, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Boris Tarasiuk, paid a visit to Bucharest. According to Mediafax, Romania and Ukraine expressed on the occasion their hope that the EU border mission due to start on 1 December will be successful and will be deployed without any administrative obstacles. The two ministers called the enlargement of the negotiations mechanism by the adherence of the US and EU as observers as a “tactical victory” of Ukraine, Romania and Moldova. Ungureanu reasserted the importance of a genuine democratisation of the Transnistrian region in line with international standards. According to him, the international community will not recognise the elections planned by the Transnistrian leadership for 11 December because “in a democratic process, elections are not a premise, but a consequence”. Ungureanu also stressed the importance of a democratically oriented civil society and invited the representatives in the negotiations process to pay more attention to this issue.
In the meantime, in Tiraspol preparations for the elections to the regional legislative body, the Supreme Soviet, are proceeding. One cannot neglect the demonstrative manner in which the Transnistrian authorities are trying to induce the impression of a free and fair electoral process. According to some official Transnistrian sources, about 200 candidates have been registered to run for the 43 deputy seats. On 16 November the candidates were distributed free of charge air time on official TV and radio stations, as well as advertisement space in the official newspaper “Pridnestrovie”. In addition, the Transnistrian authorities have made arrangements to issue provisional IDs to Transnistrian residents to ensure satisfactory turnout. On the candidates’ side, the public movement “Obnovlenie”, one of the two main electoral competitors, reportedly supported by the Sheriff Company and in opposition to the pro-Smirnov movement “Respublica”, issued on 8 November a statement entitled “Clean elections, fair elections, recognised elections” which appeals to all political forces from the region to engage in a constructive dialogue and fair competition and take a correct attitude both towards each other and towards the voters.

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Transnistrian Conflict on November 8–21, 2005

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