On 1-2 December, the first OSCE Summit to be held since 1999 will start its work in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana. The holding of this event has become a natural outcome of the efforts which were taken by the Kazakhstan OSCE Chairmanship during 2010 and which made it possible to reach definite results in several areas, traditionally included the OSCE agenda, inter alia, the problem of conflicts in the post-Soviet space, in particular, the Moldova-Pridnestrovie conflict.
Let us recall, the history of this conflict is not the case of only the last decade, but has its roots in the artificial models of territorial division imposed by totalitarian regime in the 20s-30s of the 20th century, which was aggravated by the growth of nationalistic movement in the Republic of Moldova. As a consequence, the creation of an independent Pridnestrovien state has been and remains the only guarantee ensuring observance of the rights of the Pridnestrovien citizens.
And if recognized by the international community, this could contribute to the final formalization of the political and legal results of the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The Moldova-Pridnestrovie settlement process in 2010 was in many ways determined by the permanent political instability in the Republic of Moldova and by the absence of necessary credentials at fundamentally significant levels of state power – the fact that didn't allow ensuring the adoption and fulfillment of binding agreements.
We have to state that a whole number of circumstances is preserved which don't speak for a constructive approach of the Moldovan side. In particular, no practical steps aimed at lifting economic pressure on Pridnestrovie have been made. The 2005 Law of the RM still serves as a “guide to actions” for the Moldovan authorities, and the problem around the work over the Agreement on Guarantees, the draft of which was introduced by the Pridnestrovien side, is artificially made by Chisinau dependent on the resumption of the work in one of the additional formats.
Nevertheless, largely due to the efforts of the Kazakhstan OSCE Chairmanship one managed to reach understanding over some items what can create prerequisites for resuming official work of the Permanent Consultations on Political Issues in the Framework of the Transdniestrian Settlement Negotiation Process.
The meeting in Astana and further laborious efforts of the sides to the conflict could give impetus to the search for appropriate settlement model and its approval by the conflicting parties, i.e. the Republic of Moldova and the Pridnestrovien Moldavian Republic involving mediators and guarantors, by signing reliably guaranteed, lawfully and politically obligatory international agreements.
In conditions when Pridnestrovie is not represented in Astana, it calls upon all the participants of the Summit for an objective, unbiased analysis of the situation in the Moldova-Pridnestrovie settlement and reaffirms its commitment to an equal dialogue, peaceful and fair normalization of relations with the Republic of Moldova, based on true neighborhood and mutual respect.
However, we would like to stress that elaboration, adoption and implementation of any agreements regarding Pridnestrovien settlement is impossible without full-scale involvement of the Pridnestrovien side at all levels.
We also expect the forum in Astana to become a good possibility for the world leaders to discuss common issues of pan-European security and stability. Indivisibility of international security, inadmissibility of infringement of the principles of stability, equal rights, mutual respect and allowance for existing realities should become starting point for constructing a new system of European security, the basic parameters of which were fixed in the recent initiative of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, which is supported in Pridnestrovie.
There is no doubt that development of such a system will enable it to move from confrontation to creation, will make it impossible for the separate states to use force or pressure, and also will allow settlement of protracted conflicts based on free will of the peoples who have created their states in compliance with the norms of international law, historical and legal grounds, established realities, and common principles.
The Pridnestrovien Moldavian Republic calls upon the OSCE Summit participants to display deliberateness, responsibility and objectiveness in taking decisions, so that it would allow prevention of further escalation of tension in the Moldova-Pridnestrovie settlement and in Europe on the whole, and in doing so contribute to the establishment of a fair and secure system of indivisible security.
