Tiraspol, 23 August. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Moldova asked the UN to put the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Pridnestrovie on the agenda of the 72nd session of the General Assembly, which will start on 12 September, TASS reports with the reference to a letter by Moldova's UN permanent representative, Victor Moraru. The document states that the presence of Russian troops «constitutes a threat to international peace and security».
«In accordance with Article 11 of the UN Charter, the government of Moldova requests that the question of the complete withdrawal of these foreign military forces from its territory be included in the agenda of the 72nd UN General Assembly as a separate item," write the diplomat. He asked the UN to back the efforts to complete the process of «the unconditional, orderly and total withdrawal of foreign military forces from its national territory.»
It is not the first time that Moldovan politicians and diplomats propose to withdraw the Russian military from Pridnestrovie and transform the peacekeeping operation into a police or civilian mission. Similar statements were particularly made in 2015 by the then prime minister, Valeriu Strelet. The ex-defence minister, Anatoli Salaru, also repeatedly spoke about the withdrawal.
During a visit to the USA in July 2017, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Moldova, Vladimir Plahotniuc, who is often referred to as a real ruler of Moldova, also mentioned the need to transform the tripartite operation into a civilian mission.
The Moldovan parliament has recently adopted a declaration on the necessity of withdrawing Russian troops from Pridnestrovie, and the constitutional court has ruled that the authorities can use any means to enforce it.
However, as Pridnestrovie's former foreign minister Vladimir Yastrebchak told Novosti Pridnestrovya, this issue has never before been discussed at the UN General Assembly, and plans to put it on the agenda do no credit to Moldovan diplomats.
«We'll have to wait for an official confirmation of this readiness and such plans. If it is true, Moldovan officials confirm they do not know their own legislation and international law," said Yastrebchak.
According to him, the problem of the Moldo-Pridnestrovian settlement has never been subject to the UN's competence, and the only decision it made on this issue «proves that the efforts undertaken by the OSCE at the regional level are sufficient.»
He noted, at the same time, that he did not understand «what was the reason to turn to the UN about peacekeepers as if Moldova wanted to abandon the peacekeeping operation, Kishinev would have to denounce the agreement on conflict peaceful settlement of 1992.
When addressing the UN General Assembly, the Moldovan leadership wants, according to Yastrebchak, to shift this work to someone else to avoid making any effort on their own.
This is true, however, if Moldova really wants Russia to pull out its peacekeepers, while, in fact, the diplomat's letter could be just another signal to the country's western partners.
«There are no foreign-policy prerequisites [to denounce the agreement], except for Moldova's domestic political games and desire to draw external attention to the alleged Russian threat. And if it is impossible to find any evidence, it is necessary to invent them, which is what Kishinev is successfully doing," said the ex-minister.
According to Yastrebchak, the ruling Democratic Party are trying thus to maintain its image as the main political power that can keep Moldova under western influence, expecting that in exchange the West will provide financial and organisational support.
According to the editor-in-chief of Russia's National Defence magazine, Igor Korotchenko, this address to the UN is merely declarative and may be caused by, among other things, political confrontation within Moldova.
According to Yastrebchak, the withdrawal of Russian troops and reformatting of the peacekeeping operation could lead to very negative results, up to a new escalation of the conflict. However, the probability that Moldova would determine to denounce the ceasefire agreement remains low.
Igor Korotchenko also believes that the Russian peacekeepers will remain in Pridnestrovie.
«Nothing depends on Kishinev in this case. It is Moscow that decides. Pridnestrovie must be absolutely confident that the Russian peacekeepers will not leave and any attempts by Kishinev or any other actors to change something are doomed to failure," said the Russian expert.
