Disposal Of Munition In Transnistria Falls Within Scope Of Russia-Moldova Relations - OSCE

Destroying ammunition warehouses in Transnistria is a matter that Russia and Moldova must resolve first before moving it to the next stage, Miroslav Lajcak, the chairperson-in-office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Slovak foreign minister, told Sputnik ahead of a two-day round of negotiations on the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict in the 5+2 format

BRATISLAVA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th October, 2019) Destroying ammunition warehouses in Transnistria is a matter that Russia and Moldova must resolve first before moving it to the next stage, Miroslav Lajcak, the chairperson-in-office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Slovak foreign minister, told Sputnik ahead of a two-day round of negotiations on the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict in the 5+2 format.

Negotiations on resolving the Transnistrian conflict begin in Bratislava on Wednesday with the participation of representatives of Moldova and Transnistria as parties to the conflict; Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE as mediators; the European Union and the United States as observers. Moldova has been talking about the need to carry out inspections at weapons depots in Transnistria for several years, and this issue has become even more relevant after Russia's proposal to dispose of the ammunition.

"Issues related to the disposal of ammunition appeared on the agenda after the relevant dialogue between the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation was resumed. But the 5+2 negotiation process and the disposal of ammunition are two different processes, and the latter is not included in the negotiation agenda. These processes can be considered mutually reinforcing, but utilization issues are within the scope of Moldovan-Russian relations.

As soon as this process resumes, the OSCE will be ready to join it," Lajcak said.

According to the diplomat, the OSCE member states, including Russia, authorized the OSCE mission in Moldova in 1999 to ensure transparency of the ammunition destruction process, and also instructed it to coordinate financial and technical support for this process. As a result, more than 20,000 tonnes of ammunition were removed from Moldova.

Lajcak stressed that the OSCE had the mandate, financial resources and technical expertise to continue providing support in this direction.

"I am optimistic about the resumption of the dialogue between Russia and Moldova on the issue of ammunition disposal... I can assume that after the ammunition is completely disposed of or removed, there will be no need for the presence of the military contingent that protects them," he added.

Transnistria, 60 percent of which is inhabited by Russians and Ukrainians, sought to secede from Moldova even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, fearing that in the wake of nationalism, Moldova would join Romania. The separation led to an armed conflict that ended in a ceasefire in July 1992, but the issue remains unresolved. Moldova insists on offering the region the status of autonomy, while Transnistria wants international recognition.