The Nistru armed conflict of 1992 was generated deliberately to prevent the Republic of Moldova from becoming a state with full powers, the director of the Institute of Legal, Political and Sociological Research of the Moldova State University Victor Juc stated in a public debate hosted by IPN News Agency. According to him, the existence of a frozen conflict deprived Moldova of the possibility of taking radical diplomatic action.
The expert noted that the Nistru war was started deliberately to prevent the development of the Republic of Moldova. The war broke out on March 2, 1992, the day the Republic of Moldova joined the United Nations, so as to prevent the young state from becoming a full-fledged state.
“The conflict on the Nistru was created deliberately to keep under control the constitutional authorities from the right bank of the Nistru and the situation has been perpetuated to this day. As long as the conflict is not resolved, the Republic of Moldova is deprived of diplomatic maneuvering possibilities as it has to permanently take into account those from the left side of the Dniester. One more goal was pursued on March 2. The Republic of Moldova, along with other post-Soviet states, signatories of the Alma-Ata declaration on the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, applied and was accepted to become a member of the United Nations. The formal part of the recognition of the Republic of Moldova ended on March 2, when it was recognized by the UN,” said the political scientist., who is a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova.
He noted that the balance of forces between the left and the right banks of the Nistru was unfair. The separatist forces, supported by the 14th Army, were well equipped, while on the other side, in the absence of the National Army, employees of the Ministry of the Interior and volunteers were fighting.
“In the Nistru War, the National Army of the Republic of Moldova didn’t take part because it wasn’t yet formed. The first units were formed only at the end of April 1992. The Republic of Moldova participated in the war with the internal security forces. There was a big difference compared to the 14th Army that was equipped with weapons evacuated from the German Democratic Republic. The reasons for this conflict are clear. It was generated in order not to allow the Republic of Moldova to become a full-fledged state,” said Victor Juc.
He went on to say that through the July 1992 ceasefire agreement signed by the Republic of Moldova’s first President Mircea Snegur and the then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Russia recognized that it was part of this war.
“Among the actors of this armed conflict from the left bank of the Nistru were directors of enterprises, enterprise workers, the 14th Army, external paramilitary forces, various well-armed Cossacks, who had military superiority over the law enforcement officers of the Republic of Moldova. It is not by chance that the initiative belonged to them. They challenged the constitutional forces not only in March 1992, but also in November-December 1991, when the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova was already adopted. The events developed as in the case of a classic war because the forces on the left bank of the Nistru were well armed, while the constitutional forces were less armed. A kind of mobilization, recruitment was endeavored and this contributed to maintaining the territorial status quo. The active armed conflict ended with the agreement of July 21, 1992 between the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation. Russia practically declared that it is part of this armed conflict because thus it assumed not the status of mediator, but the status of participant in this conflict,” stated the expert.
The public debate entitled “32 years of an unfinished war” was the 31st installment of IPN’s project “Impact of the Past on Confidence and Peace Building Processes” which is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.
