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RUSSIA TO EU: 'HANDS OFF MOLDOVA'
Written by Brussels journalist David Ferguson
Euro-reporters.com, Belgium
Oct 11 2005
"You may claim that Moldova is an immediate neighbor of the EU, but
so is Iraq in a certain manner after the opening of negotiations with
Turkey," said Russia's EU Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov. Speaking at a
conference examining EU-Russia relations following last week's London
summit, Chizhov underlined the fundamental agreement between the EU
and Russia. "The main thing is how to move forward."
The Russian ambassador, whilst welcoming EU and US involvement in
negotiations on a settlement to Moldova's Transnistrian conflict,
stressed the limits to expanded territorial discussions, especially
with the Baltic states: "Border agreements are not a Russia-EU issue.
They are bilateral matters between Russia and its neighbors."
So how long will Russian troops be in Moldova, five, ten or even
twenty years? "The troops will certainly leave earlier than those
stationed in Iraq," joked Chizhov at the Brussels think-tank European
Policy Centre's conference. "Nobody wants to see these troops back
home more than we do in Russia."
"Legally borders are a bilateral affair. But the EU is also a community
and we cannot accept that some EU regions have less border security
than others," said European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee
President Elmar Brok.
Speaking alongside Chizhov, Brok stressed the 'relations of solidarity'
between EU countries. "The EU is interested in clear borders. This
is in our common interest. We shouldn't be asking whether a border
problem is in our garden or in yours." MEP colleague and former
Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis accused Russia of following
a divide-and-rule policy.
"As to the EU's common border with Russia, Moscow has succeeded in
splitting Europe and turning the issue not into an EU matter but that
of the separate Member States on their own," said Landsbergis. "This
is a major challenge for the EU. But in London at the EU-Russia summit,
we failed."
There is, however, a growing EU presence in conflict regions such as
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Georgia. Last week, EU External
Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner signed a memorandum
of understanding with Moldova and Ukraine on a border assistance
mission. Starting on 1 December, with ~@7 million and 50 observers for
an initial 24 months, the mission aids border management, including
customs, on the whole Moldova-Ukraine border.
"This will help prevent trafficking in people, smuggling of goods,
the proliferation of weapons and customs fraud," said Ferrero-Waldner,
speaking last week in Moldova. "We will deploy a number of mobile
teams, consisting of approximately 50 border guards and customs
officials from EU Member States, to the most relevant locations along
the entire border, including the Transnistrian segment."
The break-away Transnistria regime in Tiraspol along Moldova's frontier
with Ukraine has been led by Igor Smirnov. Backed by Moscow, Smirnov
has held out against central authorities in Moldova since the early
1990s. "Moldova will be a neighbour when Romania joins. That is why
Moldova is part of our neighbourhood policy. Obviously, it is in
the EU's interest that our neighbors have safe and fixed borders,"
said EU External Relations Spokesperson Emma Udwin.
Russian EU Ambassador Chizhov plays down the significance of the
former Soviet 14th Army in Moldova. "The presence of Russian troops in
Moldova doesn't play any global or regional role. There are less than
1,100 Russian troops. Their primary task is to guard arms stockplies
on Transnistria terrority," said Chizhov. "But people in Transnistria
also count on them as part of their security. So without a settlement
it would be difficult to agree to a withdrawal."
For Chizhov, Russian troops in Moldova are peacekeepers, not occupying
forces: "It would be so easy for the Russian troops to leave the arms
and go home. Besides, more than half of the arms, and most of the heavy
equipment, has been withdrawn since the end of the Soviet Union. When
the political dialogue [between Transnistria and Moldovan authorities]
was under way, the trains were leaving with arms once every five
days. When the whole negotiation collapsed, the trains almost halted."
The Russian EU ambassador also made a plea for more EU coherency. "I
would only welcome a more coherent EU policy on Russia," said
Chizhov. "That would only make my job easier. But there is one
condition: this policy should not deteriorate into the lowest common
denominator."
Written by Brussels journalist David Ferguson
Euro-reporters.com, Belgium
Oct 11 2005
"You may claim that Moldova is an immediate neighbor of the EU, but
so is Iraq in a certain manner after the opening of negotiations with
Turkey," said Russia's EU Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov. Speaking at a
conference examining EU-Russia relations following last week's London
summit, Chizhov underlined the fundamental agreement between the EU
and Russia. "The main thing is how to move forward."
The Russian ambassador, whilst welcoming EU and US involvement in
negotiations on a settlement to Moldova's Transnistrian conflict,
stressed the limits to expanded territorial discussions, especially
with the Baltic states: "Border agreements are not a Russia-EU issue.
They are bilateral matters between Russia and its neighbors."
So how long will Russian troops be in Moldova, five, ten or even
twenty years? "The troops will certainly leave earlier than those
stationed in Iraq," joked Chizhov at the Brussels think-tank European
Policy Centre's conference. "Nobody wants to see these troops back
home more than we do in Russia."
"Legally borders are a bilateral affair. But the EU is also a community
and we cannot accept that some EU regions have less border security
than others," said European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee
President Elmar Brok.
Speaking alongside Chizhov, Brok stressed the 'relations of solidarity'
between EU countries. "The EU is interested in clear borders. This
is in our common interest. We shouldn't be asking whether a border
problem is in our garden or in yours." MEP colleague and former
Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis accused Russia of following
a divide-and-rule policy.
"As to the EU's common border with Russia, Moscow has succeeded in
splitting Europe and turning the issue not into an EU matter but that
of the separate Member States on their own," said Landsbergis. "This
is a major challenge for the EU. But in London at the EU-Russia summit,
we failed."
There is, however, a growing EU presence in conflict regions such as
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Georgia. Last week, EU External
Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner signed a memorandum
of understanding with Moldova and Ukraine on a border assistance
mission. Starting on 1 December, with ~@7 million and 50 observers for
an initial 24 months, the mission aids border management, including
customs, on the whole Moldova-Ukraine border.
"This will help prevent trafficking in people, smuggling of goods,
the proliferation of weapons and customs fraud," said Ferrero-Waldner,
speaking last week in Moldova. "We will deploy a number of mobile
teams, consisting of approximately 50 border guards and customs
officials from EU Member States, to the most relevant locations along
the entire border, including the Transnistrian segment."
The break-away Transnistria regime in Tiraspol along Moldova's frontier
with Ukraine has been led by Igor Smirnov. Backed by Moscow, Smirnov
has held out against central authorities in Moldova since the early
1990s. "Moldova will be a neighbour when Romania joins. That is why
Moldova is part of our neighbourhood policy. Obviously, it is in
the EU's interest that our neighbors have safe and fixed borders,"
said EU External Relations Spokesperson Emma Udwin.
Russian EU Ambassador Chizhov plays down the significance of the
former Soviet 14th Army in Moldova. "The presence of Russian troops in
Moldova doesn't play any global or regional role. There are less than
1,100 Russian troops. Their primary task is to guard arms stockplies
on Transnistria terrority," said Chizhov. "But people in Transnistria
also count on them as part of their security. So without a settlement
it would be difficult to agree to a withdrawal."
For Chizhov, Russian troops in Moldova are peacekeepers, not occupying
forces: "It would be so easy for the Russian troops to leave the arms
and go home. Besides, more than half of the arms, and most of the heavy
equipment, has been withdrawn since the end of the Soviet Union. When
the political dialogue [between Transnistria and Moldovan authorities]
was under way, the trains were leaving with arms once every five
days. When the whole negotiation collapsed, the trains almost halted."
The Russian EU ambassador also made a plea for more EU coherency. "I
would only welcome a more coherent EU policy on Russia," said
Chizhov. "That would only make my job easier. But there is one
condition: this policy should not deteriorate into the lowest common
denominator."