Transnistrian delegation to JCC wants lower number of policemen in Bender

The delegation of Transnistria to the Joint Control Commission (JCC) at the last meeting demanded that the results of the activity of the working group responsible for determining the numerical composition and structure of the police bodies working in the increased security zone be reported to the administration of Bender (Tighina) town, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a communiqué, the Ministry of Defense of Moldova says that the Moldovan delegation considers that the Transnistrian delegation aims to remove the police commissariat in Tighina. “This decision is not within the Commission’s competence as the withdrawal of the police commissariat runs counter to the Moscow Agreement of 1992, which says that the law enforcement bodies of Moldova and the Transnistrian region will work in parallel in Tighina,” the communiqué says. By 50 police officers on behalf of Moldova and Transnistria worked in the region initially. Afterward, the number of policemen was increased to 200, by 100 from each side. According to the Transnistrian agency Olvia-press, the field group stopped work later, but the number of Moldovan policemen in Bender was significantly increased. “Several police commissariats of Moldova, a court, a passport division, a security service department were opened in the town that is under the authority of Transnistria,” Olvia-press reported, saying that the number of police officers was being raised secretly, without the Transnistrian authorities’ consent. Therefore, the administration of Bender and the civil society called on the JCC to reduce the number of police officers to the previously agreed number. As no consensus was reached, the subject will be discussed again at the JCC’s meeting of September 17.