Tiraspol - Moldova - Mafia in Uniform

The representatives of the European Union, GUAM, the United States, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine spoke out for replacement of the current peacekeeping mechanism in Transnistria with a multi-national mission under an international mandate, because "the tense situation in the Security Zone and the Tiraspol regime's continuing provocations are a bright proof that the current peacekeeper mechanism has led not to settlement but to freezing of the conflict and to protection of the separatists' interests, which is unacceptable for the international community".

Moldova should cooperate with the Russian Federation, according to the survey Vox Populi that the Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law of the Moldovan Academy of Sciences has recently conducted jointly with the Moldovan Association of Sociologists, the Centre of Sociology of Communities and Gender Studies and the news agency BASA-press.
At the same time, 26 percent of respondents consider that Moldova should take a principle stance towards Russia and not cede, while 1.3 percent plead for interruption of any collaboration with this country.

Axis News: Transdnestrian State security service celebrates anniversary claiming foreign intelligence services are active in the country

He added that 23 different structures assist foreign spies in planning the Orange revolution. Among these structures he named the US, British and Polish embassies, different NGO's, Soros funds, EU based structures e.t.c.

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azi.md-Sides Interpret Bendery Incident Differently

The Moldovan and Transnistrian authorities are offering different interpretations to the developments at and around the Bendery-2 railroad terminal, but nobody seems to be able to explain clearly what actually happened there yesterday.

On Tuesday night, the Regnum news agency of Moscow and some Tiraspol mass media reported - with reference to the Transnistrian law-enforcement organs - that about 30 Moldovan policemen made an attempt to seize the Bendery-2 railroad station that is under Transnistria's jurisdiction.

According to Radio Tiraspol, "The seizure attempt was opposed by 5 Transnistrian militiamen", and "the situation is close to using force by both sides".

This information failed to be confirmed from other sources. Some officials in Chisinau presume this might be a deliberate provocation staged on the eve of the visit by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel de Gucht, who has arrived in Chisinau today.

The Sunday Times: Calls for freedom make the jigsaw of Europe more complicated than ever

June 02, 2006


Igor Smirnov, Transdniestr’s “President”, has announced that its 550,000 people will vote in a referendum in September on whether to seek formal independence from Moldova. “The recent example of Montenegro proves that a referendum is becoming a norm for solving conflicts,”, said Mr Smirnov, 64, a former metalworker.

Although never recognised internationally, it has close ties to Russia, which helped the ethnic Russians in the war and has maintained 1,500 troops there. Officially, they are there to keep the peace and guard a stockpile of 40,000 tonnes of weapons stored there in case of a Nato invasion. In reality, this remains Moscow’s westernmost strategic outpost — a bulwark against the expanding EU and Nato. It is also a haven for money-laundering, smuggling and illegal weapons sales. Mr Smirnov runs it as a personal fiefdom, financed by local oligarchs and propped up by nostalgia for the Soviet Union. It has its own currency based on the old Soviet rouble, uses the old Soviet Moldovan flag, and stages annual Soviet-style military parades. Police wear uniforms bearing the hammer and sickle. There is no direct telephone link to Moldova and no mobile network.

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RIA Novosti: Russia lays responsibility for CFE treaty on NATO states

02/ 06/ 2006


"Given the unconstructive position of NATO member countries, and their unwillingness to launch the ratification process of the adaptation agreement, all responsibility for the CFE's future will rest with our Western partners," said Anatoly Antonov, who heads the Foreign Ministry's department on security and disarmament. "Russia will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the situation regarding control over armaments," he said, adding that the treaty no longer reflected the signatories' interests.

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RIA Novosti: CFE Treaty unviable, out of touch with reality - Russia diplomat

31/ 05/ 2006


The Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty was signed in 1990 to classify and set the ceiling for weapons that can exist in the European theater. In 1999, an adapted version of the treaty was signed and has been ratified by Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, but the document has sparked debates over some clauses that have been interpreted differently by the signatory states. "The balance of rights and commitments [of the countries party to the treaty] has been upset," Anatoly Antonov, the chief Russian delegate to a Vienna conference on the CFE Treaty, said Tuesday.

"Today the blocking basis of the treaty offers considerable privileges to members of the military and political alliance [NATO] at the expense of those countries who are not in the alliance, including Russia," he said. Antonov said the document, which had originally been intended as a mechanism for preserving and consolidating control over conventional weapons in Europe, was used by some countries as "an instrument for attaining their geopolitical interests in the former Soviet republics." The diplomat blamed this approach for undermining the work of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the world's largest regional security organization, and for causing serious problems in relations between Russia and NATO.

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RIA Novosti: Treaty not only Russia needs

09/ 12/ 2005


Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commented on the agreement between Romania and the United States on the deployment of four American military bases: "We are engaged in a dialog with the United States, and it has been settled that all changes to military structures should be transparent and comply with agreements on stability in Europe." Moreover, "we are interested how these changes fit in with the adapted Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty," he said. "Unfortunately, our Western colleagues have used various far-fetched excuses not to ratify this document."

The Treaty stipulates the use of tanks, armored vehicles and artillery with a caliber over 100-mm, airplanes, helicopters and personnel. But their number and purpose in Romania and elsewhere cannot be verified: the United States, as well as other NATO members, have not ratified the adapted Treaty using all sorts of implausible excuses. What should Russian generals do? Can they believe what they are told? After all, this is a serious matter. The country's security is at issue, and it is in the nature of the military to prepare for the worst. This means a new arms race, a backslide to the Cold War. Do we really need that?

This raises another question: does Russia need the CFE Treaty? The United States has withdrawn from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. NATO refuses to ratify the CFE, demanding that Moscow honor its Istanbul commitments (made at the OSCE summit in 1999), although their fulfillment was hindered by NATO leaders. General Yuri Baluyevsky, Russian chief of Staff, has once proposed to give up all obligations of transparency Russia has undertaken. Should we do as he says? After all, the recent moves of our NATO allies push us toward this decision.

Helicopters at Tiraspol Soviet-era Air Base

Google Maps

Large Moldovan military base with civil freight activity. Headquarters 119th Fighter Air Division, Moldova. (AviaMK)

azi.md-Three of five Moldovan Policemen Detained by Transnistria Special Police Forces Have Been Released

Three of five Moldovan policemen detained by Transdnestria special police forces on June 14 have been released on Saturday, June 17. Two more officers of the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Moldova are still imprisoned.

The head of the press-service of the Ministry of Interior Affairs Alla Meleca informs REPORTER.MD that the head of criminal police of Police Commissariat Office of Benderi A.Pohila and senior inspectors of the same office V.Vasiliev and I.Datco have been released. At the same time the head of the Southern sector of the Organized Crime Department S.Mangir and deputy-head of Criminal Police of Bender C.Condrea are still in prison.

Originally posted by taseg

Tough job being a policeman in Bendery...

Moldova Azi: Helsinki Committee in Moldova Asks for the Support of International Organisations for Release of Policemen Arrested in Tiraspol

June 21 2006


Lawyers of Helsinki Committee Anna Ursachi and Lilia Prodan at Wednesday conference stated that they had met arrested policemen. The lawyers say that Stefan Mangir and Constantin Condrea have been tortured with the use of psychtrop substances into admission of the accusations.The lawyers confirmed that they saw marks of injections and tortures on the policemen's bodies.

Ursachi and Prodan claim that they have recieved threats from officers of Transnistria Ministry of State Security after they tried to obtain the right for other meetings with the detained.

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