EU extended its travel ban against separatist Transnistria leaders, BUT...
The Council adopted a decision extending the EU's restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova for a further twelve months (until 31 March 2012) but again suspending their application for six months (until 30 September 2011) in order to encourage progress in reaching a political settlement to the Transnistrian conflict. The decision, which amends Decision 2010/573/CFSP, will be published in the Official Journal.
The suspension was done due to the European Union's striving for a political settlement of the Transnistrian conflict, the EU Council's press release said.
The EU Council has been extending the travel ban annually since 2003, but in February 2010 it began suspending the ban force for half a year as a gesture of good will for the sake of political settlement of the Transnistrian conflict, for resolving the pending problems with Moldovan schools in Transnistria using the Latin alphabet at teaching, and for restoration of the freedom of movement.
The initiative to suspend the ban for 6 months was put forward in December 2009 by the new Moldovan authorities who thought they would thus speed up the conflict settlement process.
European Union and the United States slapped the travel ban on 17 separatist Transnistria leaders in February 2003, subsequently extending it every year. Those persons, including president Igor Smirnov and his two sons, were thus punished for their reluctance to support the international community's efforts aimed at Transnistrian conflict settlement. In August 2004, the ban list was replenished with several more Transnistrian officials who were responsible for intimidating the pupils and teachers of Moldovan schools in the Transnistrian region and for closing down such schools.
In reply, Tiraspol prohibited, in February 2003, the entry to the region and transit via it for Moldovan leadership representatives. As a result, in 2004, e.g., then-Moldovan Minister of Reintegration Vasile Sova was asked to stand up and leave a stadium in Tiraspol, where he had come to as an ordinary viewer to watch a soccer match. And last year, the Transnistrian border authorities did not let Moldovan Prime Minister Vladimir Filat enter the region. Filat wanted to watch a European League match at the Sheriff Stadium in Tiraspol.
In March 2009, Tiraspol prohibited over 10 European Union and other officials to enter Transnistria, in particular European Union Special Representative for Moldova Kalman Mizsei, U.S. Ambassador to Moldova Asif J. Chaudhry, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Moldova Petr Kypr, and other.
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