12 november 2010


Acting President Mihai Ghimpu sent a letter to the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Anders Fogh Rasmussen, asking him to provide support in the pullout of the Russian troops from the Transnistrian region.

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In a press briefing on November 12, the Acting President said the letter to the NATO Secretary General was sent in the context of the discussions on the revitalization of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) and the OSCE Summit that will take place in Astana this December.

Moscow, Nov. 15 (Interfax) - The presence of Russian peacekeepers in Transdniestria is a firm guarantee of regional security and serves the interests of both Tiraspol and Chisinau, the Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokesman Alexander Nesterenko said in a statement posted on the ministry's website on Monday.

The statement came in response to Moldovan Acting President Mihai Ghimpu's address to NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in which he asked him to assist in promoting a Russian troop withdrawal from Transdniestria.

November 24, 2010


Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi says he hopes Moldova will maintain its course toward closer EU integration after the November 28 parliamentary elections and he promoted greater European involvement in negotiations to settle the Transdniester dispute.

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He also called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Moldova, whose presence he termed an "anachronism."

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RFE/RL: In general, Moldovan elections were carefully watched abroad only in Bucharest, Moscow, and of course, Tiraspol. The stakes are much higher now though: a victory of the ruling coalition would open the way to the West and to a deeper Western involvement in the Transdniester dispute. A communist comeback would mean further stagnation and more of the same in relations with Moscow and Tiraspol.

25 November 2010


The one critical issue getting in the way of Moldova's European integration is the status of the frozen conflict in Transnistria, the 530,000-strong majority Slavic and Russian-speaking separatist region sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine

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Since 2006, some $62 million of Russian aid has come to the region, used in part to deliver "Putin pensions" to locals.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Antipact Association will hold a rally dedicated to the 92nd anniversary of the Great Union of December 1, 1918 in central Chisinau on November 27.

All of a sudden, they came to me and said: ‘Get your stuff quickly. You’re being released,’” Vardanean told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Moldovan Service after arriving home in Tiraspol, the de facto capital of the breakaway region.

“It’s still a shock for me. I still cannot believe that I am home now,” he said.

A court in Transnistria sentenced Vardanean in December 2010 to 15 years in prison for espionage in a verdict that prompted protests from the international community amid accusations that the charges were unfounded.

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Authorities said he was spying for Moldova’s secret services, and he was ultimately charged with high treason, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Jun 22, 2011


A much-anticipated conference aimed at finding an end to the standoff between Moldova and its renegade province Transnistria has 'unfortunately' failed, the Russian government said Wednesday.

A state of war technically still exists between Chisinau and Tiraspol, the unrecognized capital of Transnistria

Today at 16:34 | Interfax-Ukraine


Talks in the 5+2 format are to resume in Moscow on Sept. 22[...]

Moscow played the key role in getting Smirnov to continue the talks, he said.

In August, the Russian Investigative Committee's Main Investigations Department launched a check into an alleged mishandling of Russian financial aid to Transdniestrian and into a reported involvement of Smirnov's family members in it, Kommersant writes.

Last week, the chief of the consular service of the Russian Embassy in Moldova, Dmitry Baranov, said that Russia was suspending the issuance of Russian citizenship in Transdniestrian, and that those in need of it must travel to Chisinau.

2013-01-30


Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Eugen Carpov and Tiraspol’s political representative in the Transnistrian conflict’s settlement, Nina Shtanski, held a meeting at the headquarters of the Ukrainian embassy in Chisinau on 29 January. Attending the meeting were also representatives of mediators and observers within the five-plus-two format negotiations

Carpov welcomed Ukraine’s turn to hold the OSCE chairmanship in 2013, voicing hope that Ukraine will further be Moldova’s faithful partner in the Transnistrian conflict’s settlement process.

The political representatives have also examined a document providing for initial measures to ensure the free movement. In the context of confidence-building measures between Chisinau and Tiraspol, both sides agreed on the need to ensure this right. In this respect, the officials discussed the creation of a database for Transnistrian vehicles and their number plates, which would comply with international standards and requirements.

[---] it is hard not to notice the unprecedented fact, which was a visit of ministers Sikorski and Bildt to the non-recognised region of Transnistria. The truth, of course, is that this breakaway territory has already been visited by European diplomats but not of this rank.

[---] the Polish and Swedish ministers visited the fortress and memorial complex in the Transnistrian Bendery.

Seemingly, Sikorski and Bildt’s visit to Bendery, can be interpreted as a clear signal that thanks to such visits Transnistria will no longer be seen as a European outcast.

Possibly this visit was meant to show Transnistria that it is being treated seriously and encourage it to further engage in dialogue.