Tag: Transnistria
A total of 57 Moldovan servicemen have arrived in Ukraine to take part in NATO exercise Rapid Trident starting this week. The troops were sent according to a government’s decree, despite the fact that President Igor Dodon, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Force, had vetoed the move. The president has twice prohibited the military to participate in the exercise. He has accused the government of violating the law on state security. The pro-Western government led by Prime Minister Pavel Filip says the participation in the exercise will contribute to the soldiers' better training for the KFOR mission in Kosovo.
The government of Moldova has called on the United Nations to discuss the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from the breakaway Transnistria region at the upcoming 72nd session of the General Assembly to open on September 12. A letter from the Permanent Representative of Moldova to the UN, Victor Moraru, was forwarded on August 22, calling the presence of Russian troops in Transnistria «a threat to international peace and security».
The former Soviet republic of Moldova may actually become yet another foothold for the US military in Europe. The US Naval Facilities Engineering Command Europe Africa Southwest Asia (NAVFAC EURAFSWA) plans to construct eight training facilities for military operations in urban terrain at the Bulboaca training base in Moldova. The fact that the US Navy Department is involved makes believe the facility will host American Marines.
As has been reported, last April the Monitoring Committee met during the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. A special subcommittee was created at that meeting – the Ad hoc Sub-Committee on Conflicts between Member States of the Council of Europe. This new entity, which will be directly responsible for looking into so-called «frozen conflicts» in the former Soviet Union, should have official status and begin its work in June. It met for the first time in Paris on May 27…