Vladimir Yastrebchak: Unilateral attempts to change the format of the peace-keeping operation won’t succeed

10/02/09
It was not much surprising for Tiraspol to see the Liberals in the neighbouring Moldova come to power. This statement was made on Thursday by the PMR's Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Yastrebchak during his conversation with the correspondent of the Russian TV channel “NTV”. According to the Head of the Republic's MFA, the unfolding events in Kishinev have largely become the result of the policy of the previous years conducted by the team of ex-President Vladimir Voronin.  As the Minister noted, Transdniestria is keeping an attentive watch over the first declarations and steps made by the new Moldovan leadership, and is ready for the situation to be developed in different ways. He paid attention to the fact that withdrawal of the Russian military troops and transformation of the peace-keeping operation were among the major tasks defined by Kishinev. According to the PMR MFA Head, such position contradicts the existing documents. All the accents within this issue were put in the Joint Declaration of the Russian, Moldavian and Transdniestrian Presidents signed on March 18, 2009 in Moscow. This document contains the parties' agreement upon the possibility of changing the acting format of the peacekeeping operation provided only that Moldova-Pridnestrovie relations are completely settled down. “Speaking about withdrawal activities, it should be reminded that Russia carried out all its commitments.  Presence of the Russian militarists on the Transdniestrian land today is a question of bilateral relations between Moscow and Tiraspol,” PMR MFA Head told.

In his words, Transdniestria will take all measures to ensure that the acting peace-keeping format won't be transformed, while it helps to maintain peace and security in the whole region. “It is necessary to realize that unilateral attempts aimed at changing the existing format won't succeed, and events in the Caucasus in 2008 proved to be a bright example of it,” marked the PMR's Minister of Foreign Affairs.