One of the most controversial territory in Europe, a self-proclaimed republic, which officially is part of the Republic of Moldova – Transnistria, still has on its territory two Russian military contingents since the Fourteen Army of the Ministry of Defence of the Soviet Union was established in the region in 1956.

The Russian troops have been renamed and transferred to Transnistria. Nowadays, they are the Russian Troops Task Force (GOTR), which safeguards the ammunition depots belonging to the Russian Federation and the peacekeeping mission forces sent by Russian Government on the Transnistrian territory.

While the Russian Federation insists that its military presence in the Republic of Moldova aims merely at ensuring and maintaining the peace in the region, the international community, the constitutional authorities and the majority of the population of
Moldova, perceive the situation as an occupation. All in all, the situation is regarded as a real danger to regional security.

According to a Promo-Lex report on Russian Military presence and its impact on human rights situation, “Moscow actually used its control over the former USSR Armed Forces’ military bases to maintain their military presence on the territories of the newly independent countries that emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union,” such as Moldova, Ukraine and Armenia.

As the report states, the Russian Government “used its military presence not to strengthen security of the countries of deployment, but primarily for the sake of Russian geopolitical and economic interests, including strengthening of own influence on neighbouring states.”

As a result of the lack of proper legislation and oversight mechanisms to supervise the compliance of the Russian military presence with the legislation of Moldova, bilateral agreements, as well as the international law, serious human rights violations and significant deterioration in human rights situation resulted.

Until October 1, 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued more than 28 judgements in over 56 Transnistrian cases against the Russian Federation, the total sum of claims awarded by the Court amounted more than 5.5 million euro, as the Promo-Lex report stated. That includes cases of detention in inhuman and degrading conditions, transmission of complainants to illegal region structures, torture, ill-treatment, simulated executions, rape, murder, lack of effective investigation into the death of persons who were forcedly enrolled in the Transnistrian military units, limiting the right to freedom of movement and seizure of transport means, etc. A direct or indirect participation of soldiers from the Russian military forces established in Transnistria was recorded in all these cases.

“The illegal presence of the Russian army on the territory of the Republic of Moldova represents a support of an administration deliberately violating the human rights, and in the absence of an opportunity to influence the state of play in the field of human rights, Russia is entirely responsible for the violations, as a subject of the international law,” concluded the report.

Also, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova concluded that the Russian Federation rather than withdrawing its occupation troops from the east, strengthened its military presence, which is a violation of the constitutional provisions on the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and permanent neutrality of Moldova, as well as an infringement of the international law, as it is declared in the report.

Prime Minister Maia Sandu had a meeting with representatives of the mediators and observers in the “3+2” negotiation format. The discussions focused on the evaluation of the current stage of the Transnistrian settlement process.

Maia Sandu requested assistance from the “3+2” representatives in determining the Transnistrian party to eliminate in the near future the ban on traveling to the left bank for all citizens of the Republic of Moldova.

According to a government communiqué, the prime minister stressed that the “5+2” negotiation format for the Transnistrian settlement should become a platform to help fight corruption and smuggling.

“We have also discussed this in Kiev and I am glad that we have the same position in relation to this issue. The fight against corruption and smuggling in the Transnistrian region must be a priority. We will ensure that both state institutions and government officials will no longer be involved in corruption and smuggling schemes with Tiraspol, as it had happened in the past. As long as the Transnistrian region will be a major source of illegal enrichment for some people, there will be no real progress in identifying a political solution.”

In this context, Maia Sandu mentioned the need to prolong the EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM).

The head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, Claus Neukirch, reiterated that securing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova, with a special status for the Transnistrian region, is the key factor in the mission’s work, but also the main goal of the “5+2” format.

The problem of the Tiraspol structures in the Security Zone being abused by additional stationary stations of so-called border guards and mobile patrols of the “border guards and customs officers,” was heatedly discussed at the last meeting of the Joint Control Commission.

This time, our delegation’s attempts to put the issue on the new illegal border post of Transnistrian border guards in the perimeter of Pohrebea were not supported by the interlocutors, a press release from the Reintegration Policy Bureau announced.

According to the source, the delegation of the Russian Federation and the Transnistrian region insist on the exit of the military observers only to find confirm its existence, without underlining that its establishment constitutes a violation of the Commission’s decisions.

This time, the Moldovan delegation refers to the selective application of the provisions of the Commission Protocols and the biased treatment of the cases of abuse committed by the Transnistrian side.

Moreover, during the conference, those heard were the members of the working groups, especially those on the issues in the Security Zone. With reference to the Transnistrian border post “Zagornoe-Copanca”, which was established instead of the pacification, it was discovered that the representatives of the Transnistrian party and of the Russian Federation in the Joint Military Command invoked some superficial reasons and did not perform the task of transmitting the requested materials, found in the archive of military component management.

As a consequence, the OSCE Mission Representative warned about the creation of a blockage and called for the direct involvement of delegation leaders to boost the work of those responsible for delaying the provision of the requested documentation.

At the same time, following a series of cases of intimidation and detention of the inhabitants of Chircăieşti village by the border guards and Transnistrian customs patrols, on the segment between Chircăieşti and Chiţcani localities and near the Botna river, the Moldovan delegation evoked the provocative practices of the structures subordinated to Tiraspol, which violates citizens’ right to free movement.

In an address to representatives of the Russian Federation, the OSCE Mission, and Ukraine, the Moldovan delegation requested assistance in maintaining the situation in the Security Zone in accordance with the provisions of the Moldovan-Russian Agreement of 21 July 1992 and the decisions adopted at the level of the Joint Control Commission.