Moldovan foreign ministers delivered a speech from UN rostrum on necessity of international inspections of ammunition depot and monitoring industrial-military enterprises in east of Moldova
Including the issue on frozen conflicts on the territory of GUAM member states will facilitate the settlement process of the conflicts from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova and will not undermine, as some delegations consider, the existent settlement mechanisms of those conflicts, the minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, Andrei Stratan declared within the frameworks of the speech delivered on Tuesday, September 26 in New York from the rostrum of the 61st General Assembly of UN.
According to Stratan, the Transnistrian conflict is a result of the geopolitical interests present in the region, and was generated with foreign support immediately after the Soviet Union has broken and Moldova declared its independence and sovereignty. Compared with other internal conflicts, which are grounded on ethnical or religious misunderstandings, the Transnistrian conflict is clearly political, the minister declared.
Stratan also said that the territory is controlled by separatists, with continuous support from outside and remains to be one of the few places in the world where NGOS and political parties are prohibited, where freedom of press and speech is inexistent, and the fundamental human rights and freedoms, especially of the local population are systematically violated. At the same time, different categories of conventional armament are produced in the region, including that strictly prohibited or limited by the international control regimes. This continuous process of arming and militarization in the region is happening despite the constant efforts of Moldova to reduce its military effective force and to settle the transnistrian conflict exclusively by peaceful means, without renouncing to its permanent neutrality.
Moldovan authorities are determined to find a political solution to the transnistrian conflict, which would ground on respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state. This problem or regional security must be solved through negotiations, with the participation of main actors in “5+2” format. The final aim of the negotiations is settling a special juridical statute for the transnistrian region within Moldova. Democratization and demilitarization of the region are necessary conditions in order to achieve some progress in the settlement process, the head of the Moldovan diplomacy declared.
The head of MFAEI also mentioned that the inefficiency of the present peacekeeping mechanisms imposes their transformation into a multinational peacekeeping mission with international mandate. Moldova welcomes the proposals in this respect and is ready to act fast and constructively. Regarding the military aspect, Stratan reiterated the concern of the Republic of Moldovaabout the fact that the Russian Federation did not fulfill the engagements made at the Summit in Istanbul in 1992. Complete implementation of this decision would facilitate coming into force of the FACE Treaty. Stratan mentioned about the necessity of organizing, as fast as possible, an international inspection at the ammunition depots from the Transnitrian region. Monitoring the activity of the industrial-military enterprises in the east of Moldova is an action which should have been done long ago.
In the end of his speech, Stratan expressed his hope that the works of the 61st session of the UN General Assembly will be organized according to a solidarity spirit, with a real and constructive tackling of world’s complex problems.