Russian, Moldovan rift over Dniester Region deepening
 
26-AUG-2005
Russia-MoldovaThe diplomatic wrangle between Chisinau and Moscow over Russia's role in the Dniester Region settlement is acquiring an air of permanence. On this occasion the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration accused the Russian Defence Ministry of incompetence. The reason for this was [Russian Defence Minister] Sergey Ivanov's recent statement about Russian peacekeepers being in the Dniester Region on the basis of a mandate of two states - Moldova and the Dniester Region.
In a reply statement the Moldovan Foreign Ministry says that Ivanov's words "about the so-called peacekeeping role and function of the protection of armaments deployed on the territory of our state, in the context of the imaginary mandate of forces illegally stationed on our territory, show the Russian minister's ignorance of the existing agreements".
Moreover, according to analysts, the sides have simply misunderstood one another, since the diplomats' statements were entirely to do with image and domestic politics.
The Moldovan authorities do not regard the Dniester Region mandate as legal. As for the agreements recognized by the Moldovan side, in particular the Istanbul agreement and Oporto treaty extending it, under them Russia committed itself to withdrawing its forces and armaments before 1 January 2004. "Russia's current behaviour is a breach of bilateral international commitments made back in 1999," Iurie Rosca, Moldovan parliamentary deputy and leader of the Moldovan Christian Democratic Party, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Meanwhile, Russian parliamentarians are also on the warpath. "We could equally accuse Chisinau of incompetence. Aside from the Istanbul agreement, the basic legal document for the Dniester region settlement is the five-party agreement involving Dniester Region, Moldova, Russia, the United States, and Ukraine, whereby Russian forces can stay on the conflict territory indefinitely," Duma Security Committee member Nikolay Kuryanovich told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Apparently, that is what Sergey Ivanov had in mind when he referred to the Moldovan and Dniester Region mandates. although these relate only to peacekeeping forces numbering around 500 men. As for the 1200 servicemen left over from the 14th Army, Russia was committed to withdrawing them before 2004. Moreover, the Moldovan Foreign Ministry talks about the lack of legal grounds for the deployment of servicemen, while the Russian Defence Ministry talks about the legal basis for the continuation of the peacekeeping mission.
According to Aleksey Makarkin, deputy general director of the Political Technologies Centre, the misunderstanding was due to the political motives behind the statements. "In Russia Ivanov is no longer just the Defence Minister, he is also a prominent political figure. The statement he made was more domestic political in nature, in order to demonstrate to voters the hard line pursued by the country's leadership," Makarkin explained to Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
The Moldovan ministry's reply had a similar motive, "so it is impossible to make an ethical assessment of these statements from the viewpoint of who is right and who is wrong. Anyway, essentially neither of these statements will affect mutual relations between the countries on the Dniester Region settlement issue," the analyst believes.

Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Moscow
BBC Monitoring

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