Moldova and Transnistria Situation Thread

Russia conducts training with SF's in Transnistria.
http://fortruss.blogspot.ca/2015/06/russia-deploys-special-operations.html

franco wrote:Russia conducts training with SF's in Transnistria.
http://fortruss.blogspot.ca/2015/06/russia-deploys-special-operations.html

With access to 20,000 tons of ammo...

Saakashvili announces plans to reinforce border with Transdniestria

Ukraine has 1,222 kilometre long border line with Moldova, including a 450-kilometre Transdniestrian section

KIEV, June 9. /TASS/. Governor of Ukraine’s Odessa region Mikhail Saakashvili said on Tuesday he plans to reinforce Ukraine’s border with the unrecognized republic of Transdniestria.

"We have two major tasks - to reinforce the border and curb corruption. Drug and weapons trafficking across this border mean nothing good," he told a news conference in Odessa.

He pledged Ukraine would take efforts to "restore lawfulness along the line of contact." "We have a presidential programme that provides financing for border reinforcement measures," he said. "It is quite realistic to fulfil it after we curb corruption in all power bodies. No barbed wire will help if a customs or border office overlooks contraband. Everything is pointless in this case."

Engineering works aiming to block movement of military hardware and contraband started at the Transdniestrian section of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border.

Ukraine has 1,222 kilometre long border line with Moldova, including a 450-kilometre Transdniestrian section.

I didnt know that Governor of Ukraine’s Odessa region is Mikhail Saakashvili. How he managed that? He is for sure a political mercenary of NATO-US

Ukraine to place S-300 antiaircraft missiles on border with Transdniestria

ODESSA, June 4. /TASS/. Ukrainian authorities will deploy S-300 antiaircraft missile complexes on the border with Transdniestria - a mostly Slavic-populated breakaway region of Moldova that has existed as an unrecognized Dniester Republic since the early 1990.

A report published by Odessa-based Taimer newspaper quoted the Ukrainian Defence Ministry officials as saying the missile complexes will be deployed in the Bolgrad district of the Odessa region.

"Officials at the war ministry said the S-300 missiles will ensure defence of the country in the south of the Odessa region on the border with the Dniester Republic," Taimer said.

In the light of it, Dniester Republic President Yevgeny Shevchuk expressed concern over the bellicose moods in Kiev.

"We’re concerned by the fact," he said. "The Dniester leadership is acting with maximum openness in this situation. We’ve made proposals more than once to the (European security organization) OSCE, the Ukrainian embassy, other partners in the Five-plus-Two negotiations format (embracing Moldova, Transdniestria, Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE, as well as the US and the EU in the capacity of observers - TASS) to come over to us and to see for themselves that there are absolutely no military preparations on our side."

"We’re astonished by the OSCE’s reluctance to bring this fact to public awareness," Shevchuk said.

He said an antitank ditch was being dug at the Kiev government’s instruction along the border with the unrecognized republic, while special block posts with armored vehicles assigned to them had been installed on automobile roads and thousands of army servicemen had been redeployed to the area.

"People in the Odessa and Vinnitsa regions (the regions of Ukraine located along the border with Transdniestria - TASS) are scared by what’s happening in Donbass where rank-and-file people are dying," Shevchuk said. "They are afraid war is about to come to their homes as well."

"On the other hand, these statements (on the part of Ukrainian officialdom - TASS) apparently seek to discredit Russia and its peacekeepers deployed on the banks of the Dniester River," he believes.

The contingent of about 1,000 Russian peacekeeping servicemen - privates, noncoms and officers - performs two main functions. They are are to keep guard at checkpoints in the security zone and to exercise control over the depots with outdated munitions that were left behind by Russian forces withdrawn from Moldavia upon the disintegration of the USSR.

The frozen conflict between Transdniestria where more than 60% of the population is non-Moldovan and the authorities in Chisinau budded in 1990 when the nationalistically minded forces declared independence of the then Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic from the USSR and the authorities of the region lying most along the southeastern bank of the Dniester said unambiguously the people of the region were choosing a different path.

In 1992 and 1993, tensions between Chisinau and Transdniestria grew over into a short enough but bloody war. The hostilities stooped effectively only after the arrival of Russian peacekeepers.

George1 wrote:Ukraine to place S-300 antiaircraft missiles on border with Transdniestria

.

How may century's old are these ?

Military analyst: Kiev tries to provoke Russia-NATO clash over Transdniestria

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s intention to deploy air defense systems on the border with the self-proclaimed republic of Transdniestria clearly pursues the aim of dragging Russia into another regional conflict to which NATO might be a party, which should certainly ring the alarm bell for the EU countries, the president of the International Centre for Geo-Political Analysis, Leonid Ivashov, told TASS in an interview.

The Odessa-based Internet resource Timer says with reference to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry the S-300 air defense complexes are to protect the country in the south of the Odessa Region, on the border with the Transdniestrian republic."

In the meantime, the newly-appointed governor of the Odessa Region, Mikheil Saakashvili, said one of his priorities was to tighten security on the border with Transdniestria, which he described as source of weapons and narcotic drugs smuggling. There is a possibility the entire 450-kilometer-long border between Ukraine and Transdniestria may be closed. In fact, the Ukrainian authorities will then lay siege to a region with a population of half a million.

The Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic is a tiny land-locked self-proclaimed state in the Southeast of Europe, sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine. Transdniestria proclaimed independence from Moldova in 1990 against the backdrop of a process still remembered as "parade of sovereignties" and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. After the armed conflict of 1992 it broke away from Moldova. Under the agreement of 1992 a small peace-keeping contingent of three battalions - Russian, Transdniestrian and Moldovan - is present in Transdniestria on a permanent basis. Also, there is a Russian peace-keeping operative group of 1,000 troops is based in Transdniestria.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in May made a decision to prohibit Russian military from going to Transdniestria and back through Ukrainian territory. The Ukrainian Parliament on June 4 adopted a law opening up an opportunity for inviting foreign troops into the country to provide assistance to Ukraine at its request.

Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, retired, believes that the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s intention to station air defence systems on the border with Transdniestria is in fact an ultimatum upsetting the possibility of an air bridge between Russia and Transdniestria. "Should a single Russian plane be shot down or a single Russian soldier killed, the events may take an irreversible course. Poroshenko is deliberately provoking Moscow into a tough response to Ukraine’s steps to establish a military blockade of the self-proclaimed Dniester Republic to ask NATO to send troops to Ukraine on the pretext of a newly-triggered conflict," Ivashov told TASS.

"This is precisely the task that Washington has set to Poroshenko - starting a conflict with Russia in Transdniestria," he believes. "For the same purpose the United States advised Poroshenko to appoint Saakashvili as the governor of the Odessa Region bordering on Transdniestria."

"The United States had already tried to lure Russia into an armed conflict in Donbas, in the Southeast of Ukraine. It failed. Transdniestria has been selected as the next territory for staging an anti-Russian provocation. Moscow will be faced with a dilemma - either leaving 200,000 of its citizens and Russian peacekeepers in the self-proclaimed republic at the mercy of their fate, or getting involved in an armed conflict. By leaving its own people in the lurch Moscow would lose face and world prestige. Should it intervene, it will be blamed for an act of aggression, the way it happened in Georgia in 2008," Ivashov said.

He recalled that the commander of NATO’s forces in Europe, US General Philip Breedlove, was notorious for his repeated belligerent statements addressed to Russia.

"In April last year, at the very start of an armed conflict in the southeast of Ukraine Breedlove alleged that Russian troops were prepared to occupy a greater part of Ukraine within three to five days and declared that NATO would exert every effort to provide a response to Russia’s "aggressive" approach. Now, in view of the newly-adopted law on the possibility of inviting foreign troops into Ukraine the United States would like to get the Russian army involved in a standoff with NATO troops in Europe," Ivashov said.

"Moscow should offer clear explanations to the European Union countries, Germany, in the first place, that there might follow not a regional conflict but a big war in Europe. Before it is to late the remaining controversies over Transdniestria should be settled by political and diplomatic means to rule out a situation where military force might be the last resort," Ivashov said in conclusion.

George1 wrote:Military analyst: Kiev tries to provoke Russia-NATO clash over Transdniestria

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s intention to deploy air defense systems on the border with the self-proclaimed republic of Transdniestria clearly pursues the aim of dragging Russia into another regional conflict to which NATO might be a party, which should certainly ring the alarm bell for the EU countries, the president of the International Centre for Geo-Political Analysis, Leonid Ivashov, told TASS in an interview.

The Odessa-based Internet resource Timer says with reference to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry the S-300 air defense complexes are to protect the country in the south of the Odessa Region, on the border with the Transdniestrian republic."

In the meantime, the newly-appointed governor of the Odessa Region, Mikheil Saakashvili, said one of his priorities was to tighten security on the border with Transdniestria, which he described as source of weapons and narcotic drugs smuggling. There is a possibility the entire 450-kilometer-long border between Ukraine and Transdniestria may be closed. In fact, the Ukrainian authorities will then lay siege to a region with a population of half a million.

The Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic is a tiny land-locked self-proclaimed state in the Southeast of Europe, sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine. Transdniestria proclaimed independence from Moldova in 1990 against the backdrop of a process still remembered as "parade of sovereignties" and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. After the armed conflict of 1992 it broke away from Moldova. Under the agreement of 1992 a small peace-keeping contingent of three battalions - Russian, Transdniestrian and Moldovan - is present in Transdniestria on a permanent basis. Also, there is a Russian peace-keeping operative group of 1,000 troops is based in Transdniestria.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in May made a decision to prohibit Russian military from going to Transdniestria and back through Ukrainian territory. The Ukrainian Parliament on June 4 adopted a law opening up an opportunity for inviting foreign troops into the country to provide assistance to Ukraine at its request.

Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, retired, believes that the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s intention to station air defence systems on the border with Transdniestria is in fact an ultimatum upsetting the possibility of an air bridge between Russia and Transdniestria. "Should a single Russian plane be shot down or a single Russian soldier killed, the events may take an irreversible course. Poroshenko is deliberately provoking Moscow into a tough response to Ukraine’s steps to establish a military blockade of the self-proclaimed Dniester Republic to ask NATO to send troops to Ukraine on the pretext of a newly-triggered conflict," Ivashov told TASS.

"This is precisely the task that Washington has set to Poroshenko - starting a conflict with Russia in Transdniestria," he believes. "For the same purpose the United States advised Poroshenko to appoint Saakashvili as the governor of the Odessa Region bordering on Transdniestria."

"The United States had already tried to lure Russia into an armed conflict in Donbas, in the Southeast of Ukraine. It failed. Transdniestria has been selected as the next territory for staging an anti-Russian provocation. Moscow will be faced with a dilemma - either leaving 200,000 of its citizens and Russian peacekeepers in the self-proclaimed republic at the mercy of their fate, or getting involved in an armed conflict. By leaving its own people in the lurch Moscow would lose face and world prestige. Should it intervene, it will be blamed for an act of aggression, the way it happened in Georgia in 2008," Ivashov said.

He recalled that the commander of NATO’s forces in Europe, US General Philip Breedlove, was notorious for his repeated belligerent statements addressed to Russia.

"In April last year, at the very start of an armed conflict in the southeast of Ukraine Breedlove alleged that Russian troops were prepared to occupy a greater part of Ukraine within three to five days and declared that NATO would exert every effort to provide a response to Russia’s "aggressive" approach. Now, in view of the newly-adopted law on the possibility of inviting foreign troops into Ukraine the United States would like to get the Russian army involved in a standoff with NATO troops in Europe," Ivashov said.

"Moscow should offer clear explanations to the European Union countries, Germany, in the first place, that there might follow not a regional conflict but a big war in Europe. Before it is to late the remaining controversies over Transdniestria should be settled by political and diplomatic means to rule out a situation where military force might be the last resort," Ivashov said in conclusion.

Well, maybe this will be like a situation in chess where the king will be trapped unless some bold moves change the entire geometry of the game.

Like Ivashov says, negotiation should be attempted first. But, if that doesn't work, even after sincere effort, and Washing... er, Kiev, attacks Transdniestria, Russia may have to strike hard and fast. Here's my scenario:

On que, pre-positioned VDV and SF neutralize the Ukrop S-300s at the Transdniestrian border, clearing the way for reinforcement by air; covertly-prepared Odessan sabboteurs go into action, attacking Ukrop garrisons, spreading confusion, seizing key sites, and triggering a general uprising in Obessa against Kiev; Novorossiya finally stops playing rope-a-dope and goes on the offensive; thousands of secretly-trained fighters recruited from the Ukrainian refugee population in Russia surge in to buttress the fast-moving NAF; a land bridge from Russia to Transdniestria is established and reinforced before the Ukrops/US/EU can meaningfully react to the new facts on the ground...

Well, that would be a good start. Obviously risky, and yeah, I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why it might not work, but this is my current fantasy never-the-less, 'cause this shit is really pissing me off...

Anybody have the results of the local elections that were held in Moldova? Western media has been writing different things, from a Pro - Europe victory to a pro-Russia victory in the elections. Not sure what actually happened in Moldova.

Mr.Comrade wrote:Anybody have the results of the local elections that were held in Moldova?  Western media has been writing different things, from a Pro - Europe victory to a pro-Russia victory in the elections. Not sure what actually happened in Moldova.

Pro-Europe, pro-Russia camps split vote in Moldova's local elections
CHISINAU | By Alexander Tanas

Moldova's pro-European and pro-Russian parties took roughly equal shares of the vote in local elections, results showed on Monday, upsetting forecasts of a big win for the pro-Moscow camp.

A businessman linked to the disappearance of $1 billion in a banking scandal that plunged the country into political turmoil served up a further surprise by winning a mayoral ballot.

Sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova is one of Europe's poorest countries. It is trying to reorient its economy towards the European Union after economic turbulence in Russia, its main trading partner, hit the pace of its own growth.

But economic mismanagement and a failure to tackle corruption mean nostalgia for Soviet times remains high among large sections of the population.

With 98.5 percent of votes from Sunday's mayoral and regional elections counted, Moldova's electoral commission said pro-Russian and pro-European parties were virtually tied.

In the capital Chisinau, neither the incumbent mayor, pro-European Dorin Chirtoaca, nor pro-Russian candidate Zinaida Greceanii gained the 50 percent of votes required for a win. A second round will be held in two weeks.

The biggest single upset was in the central town of Orhei, which elected Ilan Shor as mayor with just over 60 percent of votes.

In May an international report named Shor as a key beneficiary of a scandal that saw $1 billion - equivalent to one eighth of Moldovan gross domestic product - disappear from three of the country's largest banks.

Shor, who denies the accusations, will not gain immunity from prosecution in his position as mayor.

Thousands took to the streets in May to demand the government find guilty parties in the banking swindle and last week Prime Minister Chiril Gaburici, who had accused prosecutors of moving too slowly over the case, tendered his resignation.

His departure, which has yet to be approved by the President, has forced pro-European parties to try and form a new broad coalition with communist and liberal parties. If this fails, a fresh parliamentary election could be called.

Thank you for the reply. It is interesting that Russia just recently lifted the food embargo on Moldova. Maybe it feels the time is right to bring Moldova closer to Russia. If you include the population of Transnistria, which has a population of half a million, you can easily conclude that Moldova has a great potential in joining the Eurasian Union.

Mr.Comrade wrote:Thank you for the reply. It is interesting that Russia just recently lifted the food embargo on Moldova. Maybe it feels the time is right to bring Moldova closer to Russia. If you include the population of Transnistria, which has a population of half a million, you can easily conclude that Moldova has a great potential in joining the Eurasian Union.

Nah, Moldova's cut of from the black sea and is surrounded by EU thugs, i really don't see them playing a significant role for the EEU.

AlfaT8 wrote:

Mr.Comrade wrote:Thank you for the reply. It is interesting that Russia just recently lifted the food embargo on Moldova. Maybe it feels the time is right to bring Moldova closer to Russia. If you include the population of Transnistria, which has a population of half a million, you can easily conclude that Moldova has a great potential in joining the Eurasian Union.

Nah, Moldova's cut of from the black sea and is surrounded by EU thugs, i really don't see them playing a significant role for the EEU.

I thought the Dniester river went all the way to the Black Sea?

Erk wrote:

AlfaT8 wrote:

Mr.Comrade wrote:Thank you for the reply. It is interesting that Russia just recently lifted the food embargo on Moldova. Maybe it feels the time is right to bring Moldova closer to Russia. If you include the population of Transnistria, which has a population of half a million, you can easily conclude that Moldova has a great potential in joining the Eurasian Union.

Nah, Moldova's cut of from the black sea and is surrounded by EU thugs, i really don't see them playing a significant role for the EEU.

I thought the Dniester river went all the way to the Black Sea?

But Moldova does not.

Some 2,000 Supporters of Moldova-Romania Reunion Rally in Chisinau

About 2,000 activists gathered in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau on Sunday to show support of Moldova's reunification with Romania.

CHISINAU (Sputnik) — The activists carried flags of Romania and the European Union, sang the Romanian anthem and held signs promoting the unification.

The rally was organized by several groups headed by the Actiunea 2012 (Action 2012). Between 10,000 and 25,000 people were expected to take part in the rally, according to the Actiunea 2012 Saturday press release.

On July 11, the activists plan to hold a unity march in the Romanian city of Iasi and then move to Bucharest.

In May, up to 3,000 people took part in the unionist rally in Chisinau, according to Moldovan police data.

The Actiunea 2012 is a non-governmental organization established in 2011 as one of the major promoters of the unionist ideas, which received a new impulse after the collapse of the USSR and Moldova's declaration of independence in 1991.

A number of Romanian and Moldovan politicians consider currently Moldova's strip of land between the Dniester and Prut rivers, historically referred to as Bessarabia, a part of Romanian territory.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150705/1024241255.html#ixzz3f3d34M6N

Moldova’s New Cabinet Open for Dialogue With Russia

Moldovan new prime minister says the government stands for the development of a constructive political dialogue with Russia.

CHISINAU (Sputnik) — The government of Moldova stands for the development of a constructive political dialogue with Russia, the country’s new prime minister said Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti signed a decree approving Deputy Chairman of the Liberal-Democratic Party Valeriu Strelet as the country's new prime minister.

The same day, Strelet's candidature was supported by the Moldovan parliament, dominated by the ruling Alliance for European Integration.

Though the new government's action plan implies that the former Soviet republic will strive for European integration and broader strategic partnership with the US and NATO, Strelet assured that it also presupposed cooperation with Russia.

"The Cabinet intends to encourage a political dialogue with the Russian Federation for the normalization of bilateral relations in trade, economic, energy and migration spheres," he said in an address to the parliament.

The post of prime minister has been vacant in Moldova since June 12, when the country’s then Prime Minister Chiril Gaburici stepped down amid a corruption scandal and investigation into his alleged forging of school and university diplomas.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/politics/20150730/1025234596.html#ixzz3hQRT2rqZ

Russian military hold firing drill in Transdniestria

The next rotation of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Transdniestria is scheduled for October 2015

MOSCOW, August 19 /TASS/. About 400 troops and more than 30 vehicles from the Operational Group of Russian Forces in Moldova’s unrecognized Transdniestria Republic took part in a live firing drill, Colonel Oleg Kochetkov, the press service chief of the Western Military District, said on Wednesday.

"The troops on the move repelled an attack of subversive reconnaissance groups and overcame mine-studded sections of the terrain. The march was more than 30 kilometers long. During interaction of the combat units, a motor-rifled platoon advanced to the firing positions to suppress an imaginary enemy," Kochetkov stressed.

Russian peacekeepers in Moldova

Joint peacekeeping forces of Russia, Moldova and Transdniestria, as well as a group of military observers from Ukraine are now maintaining peace on the two banks of the Dniester River. No violence outbreaks have been recorded in the region during their presence, which allowed Chisinau and Tiraspol to negotiate peaceful settlement of disputes.

Moldova says the conflict is over and calls for changing the existing peacekeeping format by deploying an international mission of OSCE observers. Transdniestria says Russia’s military presence in the unrecognized republic guarantees its security.

Dniester Republic comes under pressure for building closer ties with Russia — head

About 97% of voters who took part in the 2006 referendum in the Dniester Republic voted for the region’s independence from Moldova and rapprochement with Russia

TIRASPOL, August 31 /TASS/. Moldova’s unrecognized Dniester Republic is coming under pressure for embarking on a path of building closer ties with Russia, Yevgeny Shevchuk, the unrecognized republic’s president, told TASS on Monday.

"It is no secret that some political forces in Moldova, Ukraine and other countries do not like the Dniester Republic’s course towards rapprochement with Russia. They made it clear many times during our negotiations that we are going to have fewer problems if we change our foreign policy vector," Shevchuk said.

"It’s going to be better for you," they told us. "But we explained them that the people of the Dniester Republic had made this choice," Shevchuk stressed.

"People are grateful to Russia. They remember that the Russian military stopped a war that was unleashed against us back in 1992. The Russian troops have been guarding peace in the region since then. No blood is being spilled here any longer," the Dniester Republic’s leader said.

"Today, the Dniester Republic is going through hard times. The pressure on our economy on the part of Moldova and Ukraine became one of the root causes behind the crisis. We have been forced to introduce austerity measures to save the budget funds in March this year. Salaries and pensions had to be cut by third," Shevchuk stressed.

"Under these circumstances, Russia is helping us as usual. It is partly compensating for the lost budget revenues to support the people of the Dniester Republic, many of whom - about 200,000 - have a Russian citizenship. We appreciate that, and I am convinced that positive attitude to Russia will remain in the Dniester Republic," the president said.

About 97% of voters who took part in the 2006 referendum in the Dniester Republic voted for the region’s independence from Moldova and rapprochement with Russia. In another plebiscite, held earlier, the republic’s population voted against the Moldova-demanded withdrawal of the Russian group of troops quartered in the republic.

Moldova’s unrecognized Transdniestria republic hopes to restore full-fledged dialogue with Ukraine, which has been suspended because of the conflict in the neighboring country, Yevgeny Shevchuk added.

"We always had friendly, warm relations with Ukraine. Now there are practically no contacts," Shevchuk said. He noted that the cooling of relations between Moscow and Kiev had triggered the change in Ukraine’s attitude towards Transdniestria.

Shevchuk expressed the hope that the newly-appointed Ukrainian ambassador to Chisinau would facilitate the dialogue between Tiraspol and Kiev. "We are ready to meet with our Ukrainian partners, to discuss and solve the problems of citizens and economic agents," Shevchuk noted, voicing regret that people continued to die in the Donbass conflict.

"All wars come to an end at the negotiating table, and there is no escaping this fact. We would like everything to happen as quickly as possible. I am sure that some time will pass, and everything will change in a positive way," the leader of Transdniestria said. He welcomed a recent statement of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko who said that "he saw no risks of escalating tensions on the part of Transdniestria."

"We have repeatedly said that we have no intention of attacking anyone. Nevertheless, Kiev has repeatedly accused us of war preparations. There were some absurd statements at the highest level that hundreds of tanks from Transdniestria were allegedly preparing to advance towards Vinnitsa and further towards Donetsk. That led to the panic among the population. As a result, they dug an anti-tank ditch along our border, dug all country roads, pulled in additional National Guard forces and installed checkpoints with armored vehicles. The Ukrainian border guards do not let Transdniestria residents with Russian passports to their territory," Shevchuk said.

Transdniestria leader says Russian peacekeepers will stay

The mechanisms of the peacekeeping operation can be revised only after Tiraspol and Chisinau find a comprehensive formula for the conflict’s political settlement

TIRASPOL, August 31 /TASS/. Moldova’s unrecognized Transdniestria will never agree to proposals made by Moldova and Ukraine to change the format of the peacekeeping operation in the region, Yevgeny Shevchuk, the unrecognized republic’s president, told TASS on Monday.

"It is unreasonable to change the peacekeeping operation’s format. That may create the foundation for a future war," Shevchuk stressed adding that the Russian troops stopped a bloody armed conflict in the Dniester region in 1992 in which more than a thousand people died and tens of thousands were injured or became refugees.

"Since then they have been safeguarding peace in the region together with the ‘blue helmets’ from Moldova and the Dniester Republic as well as Ukrainian monitors. Over that time, there has not been a single outbreak of violence in the conflict region and no people have died. We believe that we should stick to the existing agreements under which the mechanisms of the peacekeeping operation can be revised only after Tiraspol and Chisinau find a comprehensive formula for the conflict’s political settlement," Shevchuk explained.

"Any talk about that would be premature under the current circumstances when he we are failing to reach accord in politics, economy, freedom of movement and other vital issues," the unrecognized republic’s president said.

He expressed the hope that the participants in the "5+2" negotiations /Moldova, the Dniester Republic, Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE and observers from the European Union and the United States/ would be consistent in those issues and would not create any additional problems, which might destabilize the situation in future.

Shevchuk noted that when hostilities broke out in Bendery in the summer of 1992, the international monitors, whom Chisinau and Kiev want to return, could not do anything and left the conflict zone where peaceful civilians later died.

Moldova suggested replacing the Russian peacekeepers with international monitors a few years ago. Gennady Altukhov, Ukraine’s charge d’affaires in Moldova, said in August this year that the existing format of the peacekeeping operation was unlikely to contribute to settling the Dniester crisis. "The replacement of the peacekeepers with a huge number of international experts would be a more effective step in settling the conflict," Altukhov said.

At present, the joint peacekeeping forces in the Dniester region comprise 402 Russian servicemen, 492 troopers of the Dniester Republic, 355 Moldovan servicemen and 10 military observers from Ukraine. They serve at 15 stationary posts and checkpoints deployed on the key sections of security zone in the Dniester region.

Transdneistria celebrates Independence Day with military parade;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YReYvyDr2c8&feature=youtu.be

http://www.moldova.org/dirk-buschle-moldova-might-be-punished-by-the-energy-community-if-it-revises-energy-prices

Moldova now faces "punishment" or problems with the "European Energy Community" and EU institutions because
their "Supremese Security Council" decided to over-rule the "independent" National Energy Regulator,
and reduce consumer prices after Gazprom reduced prices to Moldova (tied to market mechanism),
yet the regulator did not in turn reduce prices, which had been previously raised by the regulator.
The Security Council is doing so on basis of protecting the impoverished masses as a "national security" issue.

The European Energy Community is an entity formed to push EU Energy policy onto SE European countries not yet members of EU.
They push the concept of "independent energy regulator" based on the idea that will do a better job than politics-influenced government.
Except in this case, the energy regulator did not follow legal procedure when previously raising prices,
nor do they seem to have even promised a prompt re-adjustment based on Gazprom's latest price drop.
And the regulator has also failed to audit their suppliers and intermediaries' financial operations, leaving room for fraud.
The Energy Community also seems to have protested the Moldovan Court of Accounts' beginning an audit of the energy regulator...


...All in all, the EU seems to be pushing unaccountable beaurocracy on top of one of the poorest countries in Europe (sans Ukraine now),
removing sovereign accountability, and in fact preventing them from benefitting from Gazprom reducing prices in line with market tendencies...
And I gleaned all this from a source whose editorials seem largely pro-EU in tone. Why do I sense the EU project in Moldova is fucked?

Maidan 2.0 now forming in Chisinau. Apparently protestors are clashing with the police and they are setting up tents. Same scenario as Ukraine.

Neutrality wrote:Maidan 2.0 now forming in Chisinau. Apparently protestors are clashing with the police and they are setting up tents. Same scenario as Ukraine.

What's the point?
Moldavia is already ruled by reliable pro-EU parties.

ExBeobachter1987 wrote:

Neutrality wrote:Maidan 2.0 now forming in Chisinau. Apparently protestors are clashing with the police and they are setting up tents. Same scenario as Ukraine.

What's the point?
Moldavia is already ruled by reliable pro-EU parties.

Yes, but they also want to maintain good relations with Russia and refuse to go to war with Transdniestria. Bad boys!

Here are their demands and really not sure who or what after reading them;

http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=616435