Politics
Putin awkwardly fence-mending in Kyiv
On March 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a one-day working visit to Ukraine. The event was designed to signal a major improvement in the atmosphere of bilateral relations. For Putin, it was both a fence-mending move toward Ukraine and an international damage-limitation move after his disastrous involvement in Ukraine’s presidential election campaign. For Ukraine’s new leadership, it was a necessary move to reassure sections of the eastern regions’ population that political change in Ukraine does not impact adversely on Ukraine-Russia relations.
The Atmospherics
The Ukrainian leaders sought to mark a departure from former president Leonid Kuchma’s style of meetings with Russian presidents. Thus, the visit featured no joint documents and no effusive rhetoric. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko termed Russia a "permanent neighbor" of Ukraine, and spoke of a "deepening strategic partnership" in his brief matter-of-fact remarks that preceded substantive comments on the issues awaiting resolution.
Putin appeared at least initially under some strain to show friendliness. On arrival he quickly extended his right hand while moving toward Yushchenko, looking animated and gesturing broadly with his left hand — an uncharacteristic style for Putin. Later, however, he looked downward while speaking, with occasional glances and shrugs toward Yushchenko. The Ukrainian president’s body language showed dignified restraint. (Ukrainian TV 5 as monitored by the BBC, March 19).
Evidently seeking to consign the assassination attempt on Yushchenko to oblivion, Putin addressed the Ukrainian president as "dear Viktor Andriyovych" and complimented him on the administrative abilities he had shown while prime minister of Ukraine (from which post Yushchenko had been dismissed at the Kremlin’s behest). Putin ended their joint news conference by saying that he had deleted from his prepared text a sentence to the effect that "of course we have different views on some issues." Those differences, in fact, are major and persistent (see below).
Putin treated Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko with special courtesy during their separate meeting and invited her for a working visit to Moscow. Only a few months ago, Kremlin-controlled media were demonizing Tymoshenko, and Russia’s Prosecutor-General’s office was trying to arrest her through Interpol.
Putin and Yushchenko decided to abolish the Russia-Ukraine intergovernmental cooperation commission and to replace it with an interstate Putin-Yushchenko commission, to consist of four committees: defense, international cooperation, economic ties, and humanitarian issues. Russia’s and Ukraine’s national security councils are to coordinate the activities of these committees (Interfax-Ukraine, March 19).
Some 20 supporters of defeated presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych picketed Bankova Street with the slogans: "Yankees Out," "Yushchenko Out," "Putin! Putin!" and "Ukraine-Russia Together" — the slogans used by the Kremlin’s political technologists in Ukraine’s presidential campaign (1+1 TV, TV 5, March 19).
Single Economic Space
Yushchenko and Tymoshenko made clear that Ukraine has opted out of the Russia-initiated project for a Single Economic Space (SES) of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. The Ukrainian leaders told Putin that they opposed the SES project’s key elements: creation of supranational bodies, of a customs union and a currency union, and decision-making procedures that would "infringe on Ukrainian sovereignty" (an allusion to weighted voting that would have given Russia 40% of the votes on any decision). Instead, the Ukrainian leaders urged Putin to consent to the creation of a free-trade area, starting with the cancellation of exclusions and restrictions on bilateral trade and deep cuts in transport tariffs. Yushchenko and Tymoshenko insisted that SES must be redefined as a purely commercial undertaking, with no political agendas or superstructures. Yushchenko announced that he is appointing Economics Minister Serhiy Teryokhin (a market liberal) as presidential representative on SES issues (replacing the ancien regime’s first deputy prime minister Mykola Azarov).
Putin acted defensively on this issue and appeared poorly briefed. "The SES was not our initiative, it was not a Russian initiative," he insisted, though "it absolutely needs to be implemented for the good of the economies of Russia and Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan." As an argument in favor of Ukraine’s participation in SES, Putin held up Russia’s economic ties with Belarus as exemplary. Granting that the SES tariff committee (the only SES body that seems to have become operational) is a supranational body, Putin urged Ukraine to participate in its work. He also argued that Ukraine’s participation in SES would be compatible with cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union. As Russia plans to sign an action plan with the EU on forming a common economic space, Putin suggested Ukraine should join Russia in SES so that the two countries act together harmonizing their legislation with that of the EU. This idea appears to be a lighter version of the "Russia and Ukraine together to Europe" slogan of the past decade (TV 5, 1+1 TV, Interfax-Ukraine, March 19).
Bilateral Trade
Putin remarked with satisfaction that Russian-Ukrainian trade turnover in 2004 rose by 40% year-on-year, to a record of nearly $17 billion. Russia’s Ambassador to Ukraine, Viktor Chernomyrdin, felt free to exaggerate the turnover to $20 million, and to call for an increase to up to $60 billion, without however specifying a timeframe. In their selective emphasis on quantitative indicators, Putin and Chernomyrdin downplayed the decisive role of record-high prices for Russian energy in the turnover increase and the ballooning Ukrainian deficit. It was left to Yushchenko to point out, "The main problem in bilateral relations is Ukraine’s deep and growing trade deficit," a situation that "causes alarm." The deficit increased from $2 billion in 2000 to $6 billion in 2004, at an annual rate from 36% to 40%. As Yushchenko noted, the only way to solve this problem is to create a free-trade area (Interfax-Ukraine, Itar-Tass, March 19).
Soviet Assets
During Putin’s visit, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Borys Tarasyuk called on Russia to adhere to the terms of the 1992 Dagomys agreement, signed by the presidents, parliamentary chairmen, and prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine. The agreement requires Russia to transfer to Ukraine certain Soviet embassy buildings and other Soviet-owned real estate abroad, proportionate to Ukraine’s share of the defunct Soviet Union’s assets. Moscow never abided by that agreement, however. In recent years, Moscow has offered to lease some of those buildings to Ukraine — a proposal that Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov repeated during his February 21 visit to Kyiv. Meanwhile, the Russian government has begun handing some of those deteriorating buildings over to various commercial entities. Tarasyuk characterized Moscow’s attitude to this issue as unfair and greedy (Interfax-Ukraine, March 19).
Gas Transit
Yuschenko defused speculation (that his predecessor Leonid Kuchma’s administration had generated) regarding the possible sale of Ukraine’s gas transit pipeline system to a Russian-led consortium. Yuschenko stated, "The existing gas transit system remains the property of Ukraine," while any initiatives to build additional capacities would be a matter for an international consortium yet to be formed. Putin responded defensively: "I would like the Ukrainian public not to think that there are some unknown agreements … No one is trying to steal anything." Again, the Russian president appeared poorly briefed on a key issue: misunderstanding some of Yushchenko’s remarks, Putin stated that Ukraine receives 85% of its gas in the form of in-kind transit fees from Russia (his figure is about quadruple the actual amount) and that Ukraine’s state budget also receives 127 billion in monetary transit fees from Moscow (he did not specify the currency, and the 127 billion are actually the total cubic meters in Russian gas pumped through Ukraine’s pipelines) (TV 5, 1+1 TV, Interfax-Ukraine, March 19).
Black Sea and border delimitation issues
Yushchenko proposed that Russia and Ukraine settle all remaining border delimitation issues during 2005. With almost no outstanding issues on the land borders, Yushchenko called for focusing on delimitation of maritime borders in the Azov Sea and Kerch Strait, "and a small issue in the Black Sea." He urged the Russian side to recognize the division of the Kerch Strait in accordance with the administrative border between the former Russian SFSR and Ukrainian SSR until 1991. (This would follow the generally accepted principle of post-Soviet border delimitation, and would also continue the observance of that division in practice from 1991 to 2003). Russia challenged that delimitation in 2003, triggering a dispute that remains unresolved. Putin replied to Yushchenko during the concluding news conference that the Russian side reserves an answer pending discussions at the level of experts — an answer that seems to presage some procrastination (TV 5, 1+1 TV, Interfax-Ukraine, March 19).
Vladimir Socor
A new football club has earned a leading place in the UEFA Champions League groups and starred in the headlines of worldwide football news yesterday. The Football Club Sheriff Tiraspol claimed a win with the score 2-1 against Real Madrid on the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. That made Sheriff Tiraspol the leader in Group D of the Champions League, including the football club in the groups of the most important European interclub competition for the first time ever.
International media outlets called it a miracle, a shock and a historic event, while strongly emphasizing the origin of the team and the existing political conflict between the two banks of the Dniester. “Football club from a pro-Russian separatist enclave in Moldova pulls off one of the greatest upsets in Champions League history,” claimed the news portals. “Sheriff crushed Real!” they said.
Moldovans made a big fuss out of it on social media, splitting into two groups: those who praised the team and the Republic of Moldova for making history and those who declared that the football club and their merits belong to Transnistria – a problematic breakaway region that claims to be a separate country.
Both groups are right and not right at the same time, as there is a bunch of ethical, political, social and practical matters that need to be considered.
Is it Moldova?
First of all, every Moldovan either from the right or left bank of Dniester (Transnistria) is free to identify himself with this achievement or not to do so, said Vitalie Spranceana, a sociologist, blogger, journalist and urban activist. According to him, boycotting the football club for being a separatist team is wrong.
At the same time, “it’s an illusion to think that territory matters when it comes to football clubs,” Spranceana claimed. “Big teams, the ones included in the Champions League, have long lost their connection both with the countries in which they operate, and with the cities in which they appeared and to which they linked their history. […] In the age of globalized commercial football, teams, including the so-called local ones, are nothing more than global traveling commercial circuses, incidentally linked to cities, but more closely linked to all sorts of dirty, semi-dirty and cleaner cash flows.”
What is more important in this case is the consistency, not so much of citizens, as of politicians from the government who have “no right to celebrate the success of separatism,” as they represent “the national interests, not the personal or collective pleasures of certain segments of the population,” believes the political expert Dionis Cenusa. The victory of FC Sheriff encourages Transnistrian separatism, which receives validation now, he also stated.
“I don’t know how it happens that the “proud Moldovans who chose democracy”, in their enthusiasm for Sheriff Tiraspol’s victory over Real Madrid, forget the need for total and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria!” declared the journalist Vitalie Ciobanu.
Nowadays, FC Sheriff Tiraspol has no other choice than to represent Moldova internationally. For many years, the team used the Moldovan Football Federation in order to be able to participate in championships, including international ones. That is because the region remains unrecognised by the international community. However, the club’s victory is presented as that of Transnistria within the region, without any reference to the Republic of Moldova, its separatist character being applied in this case especially.
Is it a victory?
In fact, FC Sheriff Tiraspol joining the Champions League is a huge image breakthrough for the Transnistrian region, as the journalist Madalin Necsutu claimed. It is the success of the Tiraspol Club oligarchic patrons. From the practical point of view, FC Sheriff Tiraspol is a sports entity that serves its own interests and the interests of its owners, being dependent on the money invested by Tiraspol (but not only) oligarchs.
Here comes the real dilemma: the Transnistrian team, which is generously funded by money received from corruption schemes and money laundering, is waging an unequal fight with the rest of the Moldovan football clubs, the journalist also declared. The Tiraspol team is about to raise 15.6 million euro for reaching the Champions League groups and the amounts increase depending on their future performance. According to Necsutu, these money will go directly on the account of the club, not to the Moldovan Football Federation, creating an even bigger gab between FC Sheriff and other football clubs from Moldova who have much more modest financial possibilities.
“I do not see anything useful for Moldovan football, not a single Moldovan player is part of FC Sheriff Tiraspol. I do not see anything beneficial for the Moldovan Football Federation or any national team.”
Is it only about football?
FC Sheriff Tiraspol, with a total estimated value of 12.8 million euros, is controlled by Victor Gusan and Ilya Kazmala, being part of Sheriff Holding – a company that controls the trade of wholesale, retail food, fuels and medicine by having monopolies on these markets in Transnistria. The holding carries out car trading activities, but also operates in the field of construction and real estate. Gusan’s people also hold all of the main leadership offices in the breakaway region, from Parliament to the Prime Minister’s seat or the Presidency.
The football club is supported by a holding alleged of smuggling, corruption, money laundering and organised crime. Moldovan media outlets published investigations about the signals regarding the Sheriff’s holding involvement in the vote mobilization and remuneration of citizens on the left bank of the Dniester who participated in the snap parliamentary elections this summer and who were eager to vote for the pro-Russian socialist-communist bloc.
Considering the above, there is a great probability that the Republic of Moldova will still be represented by a football club that is not identified as being Moldovan, being funded from obscure money, growing in power and promoting the Transnistrian conflict in the future as well.
Photo: unknown
Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Natalia Gavrilita, together with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicu Popescu, pay an official visit to Brussels, between September 27-28, being invited by High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles.
Today, Prime Minister had a meeting with Charles Michel, President of the European Council. The Moldovan PM thanked the senior European official for the support of the institution in strengthening democratic processes, reforming the judiciary and state institutions, economic recovery and job creation, as well as increasing citizens’ welfare. Natalia Gavrilita expressed her confidence that the current visit laid the foundations for boosting relations between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union, so that, in the next period, it would be possible to advance high-level dialogues on security, justice and energy. Officials also exchanged views on priorities for the Eastern Partnership Summit, to be held in December.
“The EU is open to continue to support the Republic of Moldova and the ambitious reform agenda it proposes. Moldova is an important and priority partner for us,” said Charles Michel.
Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita also met with Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for Economy, expressing her gratitude for the support received through the OMNIBUS macro-financial assistance program. The two officials discussed the need to advance the recovery of money from bank fraud, to strengthen sustainable mechanisms for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in Moldova, and to standardize the customs and taxes as one of the main conditions for deepening cooperation with the EU in this field.
Additionally, Prime Minister spoke about the importance of the Eastern Partnership and the Deep Free Trade Agreement, noting that the Government’s policies are aimed at developing an economic model aligned with the European economic model, focused on digitalization, energy efficiency and the green economy.
A common press release of the Moldovan Prime Minister with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission, Josep Borrell Fontelles, took place today, where the agenda of Moldova’s reforms and the main priorities to focus on in the coming months were presented: judiciary reform; fighting COVID-19 pandemic; promoting economic recovery and conditions for growth and job creation; strengthening state institutions and resilience of the country.
“I am here to relaunch the dialogue between my country and the European Union. Our partnership is strong, but I believe there is room for even deeper cooperation and stronger political, economic and sectoral ties. I am convinced that this partnership is the key to the prosperity of our country and I hope that we will continue to strengthen cooperation.”
The Moldovan delegation met Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice. Tomorrow, there are scheduled common meetings with Oliver Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Adina Valean, European Commissioner for Transport and Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy.
Prime Minister will also attend a public event, along with Katarina Mathernova, Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.
Photo: gov.md
Politics
Promo-LEX about Maia Sandu’s UN speech: The president must insist on appointing a rapporteur to monitor the situation of human rights in Transnistria
The President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, pays an official visit to New York, USA, between September 21-22. There, she participates in the work of the United Nations General Assembly. According to a press release of the President’s Office, the official will deliver a speech at the tribune of the United Nations.
In this context, the Promo-LEX Association suggested the president to request the appointment of a special rapporteur in order to monitor the situation of human rights in the Transnistrian region. According to Promo-LEX, the responsibility for human rights violations in the Transnistrian region arises as a result of the Russian Federation’s military, economic and political control over the Tiraspol regime.
“We consider it imperative to insist on the observance of the international commitments assumed by the Russian Federation regarding the withdrawal of the armed forces and ammunition from the territory of the country,” the representatives of Promo-LEX stated. They consider the speech before the UN an opportunity “to demand the observance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the Russian Federation with reference to this territory which is in its full control.”
“It is important to remember about the numerous cases of murder, torture, ill-treatment, forced enlistment in illegal military structures, the application of pseudo-justice in the Transnistrian region, all carried out under the tacit agreement of the Russian Federation. These findings stem from dozens of rulings and decisions issued by the European Court of Human Rights, which found that Russia is responsible for human rights violations in the region.”
The association representatives expressed their hope that the president of the country would give priority to issues related to the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region and would call on relevant international actors to contribute to guaranteeing fundamental human rights and freedoms throughout Moldova.
They asked Maia Sandu to insist on the observance of the obligation to evacuate the ammunition and the military units of the Russian Federation from the territory of the Republic of Moldova, to publicly support the need for the Russian Federation to implement the ECtHR rulings on human rights violations in the Transnistrian region, and to request the appointment of an UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur to monitor the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.
**
The Promo-LEX Association concluded that 14 out of 25 actions planned within the National Action Plan for the years 2018–2022 concerning respecting human rights in Transnistria were not carried out by the responsible authorities.
The association expressed its concern and mentioned that there are a large number of delays in the planned results. “There is a lack of communication and coordination between the designated institutions, which do not yet have a common vision of interaction for the implementation of the plan.”
Promo-LEX requested the Government of the Republic of Moldova to re-assess the reported activities and to take urgent measures, “which would exclude superficial implementation of future activities and increase the level of accountability of the authorities.”
Photo: peacekeeping.un.org
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