Bendery, December 16 /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. In the last two weeks, two incidents have occurred in the Security Zone. They cause very serious concern of the Pridnestrovian side. On such occasion, the Pridnestrovian delegation issued two statements at today’s meeting.
The first one concerns the incident that took place on December 2 in the Kochiery village area. In the Pridnestrovian delegation opinion, referring to the attempt to capture Pridnestrovian border guards, who were moving by car across the Pridnestrovian territory without weapons.
Two unknown persons tried to open the border guards’ car doors. When a supporting group arrived at the scene, also without weapons, the RM’s Peacekeeping Forces armed soldiers, equipped in bulletproof vests, tried to prevent it. When unarmed Pridnestrovian border guards decided to leave the incident location, the Moldovan security forces pursued them and then stopped the prosecution about 500 meters from the Dubossary-Rybnitsa highway. As the Joint Control Commission co-chairman Oleg Belyakov noted, because of the opposition from the Moldovan side, the military observers were able to leave for the site only when the incident was settled.
The Moldovan peacekeeping battalion commander noted that the operational response group’s training session had taken place about which the Joint Military Command wasn’t informed. Meanwhile, it’s emphasized in the PMR delegation statement, this’s the JCC decisions violation. Firstly, the Peacekeeping Forces military personnel cannot move around the Security Zone with weapons as well as ammunition without not only the Joint Military Command knowledge but also the military observers’ control. If the battalion commander saw that the situation requires the operational response group using, then the JMC especially should be notified by him.
According to Oleg Belyakov, how could people from the unit located in the Kochiery village be practically near the Dubossary-Rybnitsa highway? This’s all very serious since these are people with weapons and they can be ordered to use them. Every Moldovan side action is on the verge of serious consequences in the Security Zone.
The second statement concerns the incident that took place on December 12, on the day of the PMR President’s election. At midday, a car with the Territorial Election Commission representatives was detained at a police post near the Dorotskoye village. As a result, about 2,000 Pridnestrovian citizens living in the Dorotskoye village were unable to vote. At least three official cars with Moldovan registration arrived at the conflict’s place, including the RM’s Internal Affairs Ministry’s car. However, the senior military commander’s from Pridnestrovie proposal to leave military observers was rejected because the elections’ monitoring isn’t the military observers’ responsibility.
Commenting on the last Joint Control Commission meeting results, the JCC co-chairman Oleg Belyakov reminded that the Dorotskoye village is located on the territory administratively subordinate to Pridnestrovie.
“Our visit there was justified and understandable because we didn’t go to Chisinau with ballot papers, we went to our territory, where our citizens could vote,” Oleg Belyakov emphasized.
According to the Pridnestrovian delegation head, the incident cannot, but cause serious concern.
“The Moldovan side has blocked the military observers’ movement, for which today the Pridnestrovian delegation had to make a rather serious statement,” Oleg Belyakov noted. We see that the peacekeeping operation mechanism is being blocked again. And this’s very dangerous, it happened in the Moldovan elections, now it’s happening in the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic elections. All this’s becoming a tendency that can seriously affect the situation in the Security Zone.”
Oleg Belyakov, commenting on the incident with the attempt to detain the Pridnestrovian border guards, noted that the situation suggests that the tension in the Security Zone is being fueled.
“It should be noted that everything happens in a certain sequentially. Someone creates conflict situations purposefully. In a short period, we see several serious events that affect the situation in the Security Zone and demanded a discussion at the JCC meeting today,” the Pridnestrovian delegation head noted.
