The Situation in Transdniestria Is Like a Carefully Orchestrated Campaign

The Situation in Transdniestria Is Like a Carefully Orchestrated Campaign

Another protest action organized by the Moldovan side took place at the peacekeeping post No. 9 on the bridge over the Dniester River. A group of Moldovan citizens attacked the peacekeeping post, having pulled out the road signs installed at the post and broken the bar. 

Notwithstanding that chairman of the Dubossary district of Moldova, Gregory Polichinsky, who spearheaded the campaign, called on the audience to a peaceful protest, the protesters made a brawl with each other, quarreled because some protesters from Kishinev called to ?push the matter through?. The fight was stopped through the intervention of Moldovan policemen in place. 

It is a reminder that the situation in Transdniestria worsened after the incident on January 1, 2012, when at the post of Joint Peacekeeping Forces a Russian peacekeeper mortally wounded a resident of the Moldovan village of Parata, who had repeatedly tried to cross the peacekeeping post driving a car which did not belong to him, in a drunken state and without driving licence. 

Sergey Panteleyev, Director of the Russian Emigre Research Institute in an interview with the Peacekeeper.Ru portal commented on provocative nature of actions and statements by the Moldovan side, the European Union?s statements demanding the revision of the peacekeeping operations format that followed the incident at the peacekeeping post. 

- Sergey Yuryevich, how can the statements by the Moldovan Foreign Ministry and representatives of the EU demanding to change the format of peacekeeping operations on the Dniester River be explained? 

- First of all I would like to clarify that such statements came not only from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova and the EU representatives, but also, which in my opinion is very important, from the U.S. Foreign Service. Because it is just the USA that has announced itself to stand for the demilitarization of the conflict zone. In my opinion, it is in this statement that you can find many answers to the questions. It is absolutely obvious that the presence of Russian peacekeepers is a guarantee of peace and stability in this difficult region. In a region where interests of a number of regional and global geopolitical players converge. I would not like to deal with inventions, but it?s amazing that this conflict took place at the very moment of the regime change in the TMR after the intense presidential election campaign, and, it is entirely possible that someone really wanted to try the strength of the peacekeeping operation in the region, and the de facto established statehood of Transnistria. Therefore, responding to a question, how can such statements be explained, I think that the answer lies in geopolitics and in the interests of the forces concerned about the presence of Russian peacekeepers in Transnistria. 

I would like to add - after the tragic incident that occurred on January 1, a classic information campaign has started to escalate the situation, directed against the Russian peacekeeping force. Firstly there were pickets at the post of peacekeepers, even provocations against the checkpoint No. 9, then protest actions of young people in Moldova itself, and finally, more recently resources of the Moldovan diaspora have been involved, in particular the Russian Embassy pickets in Romania and France. All this is accompanied by a massive information campaign in the media of Moldova and the West and it looks like a carefully orchestrated campaign that quite fits itself in the geopolitical scheme I have said above. 

- Which sides are entitled to take a decision on keeping or changing the format of the peacekeeping operation? 

- Of course, a similar solution can only be accepted by the Allied Control Commission that controls the peacekeeping operation in the conflict zone. It will be recalled that in the peacekeeping force there are not only representatives of the Russian side, but also those of Transdnistrian, Moldovan and Ukrainian sides. And as far as I know, no decision on the issue has been considered by authorized bodies. Unlike some of the statements appearing in the media about the alleged reduction of the peacekeeping force, which can be also explained by the same information campaign. Even in the Moldavia itself there is no unambiguous opinion on the need to change the format of the peacekeeping operation and all the cries that come from nationalists on this issue are a flagrant provocation. 

- In your opinion, who is responsible for the incident, and were legitimate the actions of the Russian peacekeepers that used a weapon in this situation? 

- This question can be answered as follows: all conclusions can be drawn only after the investigation into the causes of the incident, which has not yet completed, and all attempts to accuse the Russian peacekeepers are at least unethical. So far one thing is clear ? the Moldovan citizen, who died on January 1, did not comply absolutely with reasonable requirements of the peacekeepers acting strictly according to the rules. All subsequent conclusions will be made by the commission. There is nothing to do but wait for the investigation results.