Tiraspol, 30 November. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. After the opening of the Arch of Peace "Blessed Are Peacekeepers", President Vadim Krasnoselsky talked to Russian guests. As the president's press service reported, the meeting was attended by head of the Law of Peace centre, head of the constitutional law department of the Russian State University of Justice Irina Umnova-Konyukhova, Russian ambassador to Moldova Farit Mukhametshin and president of the international organisation of culture and arts MARKIS Galina Galagan.
The president awarded Irina Umnova-Konyukhova the medal "For Strengthening International Cooperation" for her contribution to the perpetuation of the feat of Russian peacekeepers.
According to Krasnoselsky, the opening of the Arch of Peace is a landmark event for our country: Pridnestrovie's attitude towards Russian peacekeepers has never been ostentatious and strained. This is largely due to history. The first peacekeepers on Pridnestrovian land were Suvorov soldiers, who founded Tiraspol — a fortress that defended the frontiers of the Russain world, the president recalled.
"History was different. Different events either reinforced or weakened Russia's influence. That's what happened during the collapse of the Soviet Union when the role of the once-united state was weakened, and its successor, the Russian Federation, did not have a major influence. Blood was shed on the banks of the Dniester back then, and only thanks to the Russian decision to cease the conflict were the peacekeeping forces introduced in Pridnestrovie on 21 July 1992," noted the president.
According to him, the success of the Russia-led peacekeeping mission is a fact can hardly be questioned today.
"This format should be studied and applied in other conflict zones, rather than talking about its elimination. The question of the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers cannot be raised without the will of the Pridnestrovian people," underscored the president.
Krasnoselsky told the Russian guests that as a Supreme Council member he proposed an article to the PMR's Penal Code providing for liability for denial of the role of peacekeepers in preserving peace on the banks of the Dniester.
"Every state shall defend its national idea in its own way: in Israel, there is a liability for denying the Holocaust; in Armenia, for denial of genocide. For us, Russian peacemaking is the foundation that we will support and protect," explained the president.
Irina Umnova-Konyukhova called this initiative evidence of the true attitude of the Pridnestrovian people to Russain peacekeepers.
Vadim Krasnoselsky also said that the Pridnestrovian land cherishes the memory of several generations of Russian warriors. Pridnestrovie is equally respectful to the memory of the Romanian, Swedish, French, Magyar who died or were killed in our land. Their names are engraved on 250 tombstones of the Military Memorial Complex in Bendery. The Russian delegation is certain to visit the complex, the head of the Russian delegation assured the president. The guests are also planning to visit thу monument to a Peacekeeper Warrior, whose opening marked the 25th anniversary of the peacekeeping operation in the region.
The head of the centre told the president it was her second time in Pridnestrovie, but nevertheless, she had discovered the country anew. She said she was planning to make a film about Pridnestrovie, which would be based on the unique feat of Russian peacekeepers on the Dniester banks and the unprecedented will of the Pridnestrovian people to preserve peace.
