Foreign ministry explicates Moldova's stance on Russian peacekeepers
Moldova stands not for eliminating the Russian Federation from the peacekeeping process on the Dniester River, but for transforming the ongoing peacekeeping operation into a multinational civilian mission, in which Russian representatives could participate together with colleagues from other countries, says the Statement issued by the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration in connection with the comments heard recently from Andrei Nesterenko, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman, concerning the continuing Russian military presence in the Republic of Moldova's Transnistrian region.
The Statement said that the possibility to convert the current peacekeeping operation was mentioned also in international documents, including in the joint declaration made by the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine on May 17, 2010.
Consultations on the format, structure and mandate of such a would-be multinational mission can well be started even presently, "and the Moldovan leadership is open to a constructive dialog".
The Ministry further wrote that when the Moldovan leadership stands for a complete withdrawal of the Russian troops from Moldova in conformity with international accords, it means primarily the evacuation of ammunition from the Kolbasna warehouses and evacuation of the military ensuring the safety of the stocks because there does not exist even a single document that could serve the basis for deploying these military forces in the Moldovan territory without Moldova's consent.
Concerning the current peacekeeping operation, the Ministry said that the Moldovan authorities appreciate the role the operation played and is playing in stabilizing the situation following the military phase of the Transnistrian conflict.
"Yet the stability, remaining quite long on the Dniester, presupposes new tasks and principles of peacekeeping mechanism. Accent will have to be shifted from division of the sides over to promotion of trust-building measures, to interaction and country reintegration. Necessity has long vanished for halting armed clashes, and currently we need to build a sustainable peace by the joint effort of all of the 5+2 format participants. For this, it is necessary to have a civilian mission meeting up-to-date requirements. Only a multinational mission, equipped with a corresponding mandate of an authorized international organization, may be legitimate and efficient", said the Moldovan foreign ministry.
As Infotag has already reported, on October 29 Andrei Nesterenko expressed surprise concerning the new demand by the Moldovan leadership to pull out the Russian troops from the Moldovan territory in conformity with Russia's own international commitments. Nesterenko said, this might lead the conflicting sides to a direct confrontation, which is fraught with a new outbreak of armed clashes in this region of Europe.
Infotag
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