RIA News:
Tiraspol and Kishinev relations have been experiencing a new round of tension due to customs duties for more than a month now. Politicians in Moldova say that this is one of the steps towards the reintegration of the region and provide figures on the regular allocation of funds for Moldovan citizens who live in Pridnestrovie. How do they feel about this in Tiraspol? Can we talk about the negative impact of these duties on the economy of Pridnestrovie and the well-being of ordinary citizens now?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
The statements by Moldovan representatives justifying the introduction of customs duties by some mythical expenses on Pridnestrovians are false and selfish.
Let's take, for example, statements about supposedly provided social guarantees and budgetary expenditures in Pridnestrovie in the field of healthcare or education. Yes, some Pridnestrovians use medical services in Moldova, but only on a reimbursable basis. The PMR Ministry of Healthcare transferred 40 million Pridnestrovian rubles (that’s almost two and a half million dollars) to Moldova last year. Even the delivery of patients in need of urgent intervention by Moldovan ambulances is paid from the Pridnestrovian budget. The remaining services are either paid for by the citizens themselves directly in medical institutions, or are covered by insurance policies purchased by them in Moldova. That is, we are not talking about any subsidies from the budget of the Republic of Moldova. This is a purely commercial relationship.
Regarding education, there are more than one and a half hundred schools, the same number of kindergartens, and two dozen institutions of secondary and higher vocational education on the territory of Pridnestrovie. All of them are financed from the Pridnestrovian budget. Moldova did not take on any financial burden. Those several hundred Pridnestrovian children who chose Moldovan universities to receive higher education do not in any way affect the current budget situation.
The statements of the political representative of Moldova about pension provision do not stand up to criticism. He said at first that up to 50 thousand Pridnestrovians receive Moldovan pensions. When the Moldovan side presented official statistics, it turned out that there were less than three thousand people – these were mainly former police officers and other law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Moldova who remained living in Pridnestrovie. The budget of the PMR Unified State Social Insurance Fund supports about 120 thousand recipients of the Pridnestrovian pension and various benefits.
The impact of duties on the Pridnestrovian economy can best be told by objective statistics from the beginning of this year. The trade turnover of the Elektromash enterprise, which is prohibited from exporting goods, fell by more than three-quarters, and the import of medicines decreased by a quarter. Individual entrepreneurs import 65% less clothing and footwear, and half less import of toys and sports equipment. Customs payments to the budget of Pridnestrovie decreased by 18% as a result.
RIA News:
One of Tiraspol’s steps in response to the introduction of duties by Moldova was the abolition of preferential treatment for Moldovan farmers owning land in Dubossary district. Kishinev is calling on Tiraspol to abandon this step now. Are Pridnestrovie ready to meet the Moldovan side halfway and under what conditions?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Pridnestrovie has called on the Moldovan side for six years to implement the Protocol Decision on the Land Use Mechanism of 2017. It states in paragraph 5 Moldova’s obligation to stop criminal cases against Pridnestrovians initiated on land use issues. However, Kishinev did nothing; moreover, it deliberately aggravated the problem of criminal prosecution of Pridnestrovian citizens, taking it to the extreme with the adoption of the notorious “law on separatism” in February last year.
The government's decision concerns only the abolition of the preferential treatment that previously existed in relation to Moldovan land users and cannot be considered as a termination of the agreement. We do not restrict farmers’ access to their plots; we are in direct contact with them and discuss forms of further cooperation. It is obvious that a revision of the parameters of customs regulation in relation to foreign economic agents is inevitable in the context of unfriendly steps on the part of Moldova. As for reversing the decision, time will tell.
RIA News:
Experts started talking about Pridnestrovie again as a potential point of instability against the backdrop of new problems regarding Tiraspol and Kishinev. Information appeared from the PMR Ministry of State Security about the preparation of combat groups on the territory of Moldova to commit sabotage and terrorist attacks in Pridnestrovie. In your opinion, has the security situation in the region become more precarious recently? Have the risks of various provocations increased?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
The security situation is alarming. We focused attention of the international community to the problem of training sabotage groups on Moldovan territory and sent a number of appeals. There have been no adequate reactions either from Kishinev or the OSCE. Unfortunately, we are observing tactics of hushing up the situation, as in the case of the terrorist attacks against the population of Pridnestrovie and the delegation of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office that were prevented last year.
It is necessary to understand that any incidents can have far-reaching consequences taking into consideration the active militarization of Moldova, constant military exercises in this country, calls for the transformation of the peacekeeping mission, and a revision of the status of neutrality. Aggression is escalating in neighboring Moldova. The topic of war is constantly raised in the media, examples of Nagorno-Karabakh and Israel are thrown in, and calls are made to deal with separatism. There is a risk of conflict escalation including politically motivated blocking of the work of the “5+2” format against the backdrop of stagnation in the negotiation process. The peacekeeping mechanism effectively fulfills its mission in this sense, at least ensuring controllability of the situation in the Security Zone, on the line of direct demarcation of the parties. This is the key factor.
RIA News:
Moscow drew attention recently to the words of Oleg Serebryan, Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration of the Government of Moldova, that the “5+2” negotiating format has only been frozen, but not cancelled. Do you see any signals from international participants that the work of this format can resume? How necessary is it now for the parties to the conflict to resolve problems?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Kishinev increases political and economic pressure on Pridnestrovie year after year, violating the rights and interests of our people, while blocking and eroding negotiation mechanisms at the same time. The demand for the “5+2” format is high. It has by no means exhausted, on the contrary, it is this platform, where equality of the parties is secured and conditions for normal dialogue are provided, that can become the lifeline that will pull the conflict out of its descent into an uncontrollable regime. Let me remind you that there is a clause that the parties confirm their obligations to resolve all issues exclusively at the negotiating table and with the assistance of international mediators importantly in each protocol of the “Permanent Conference...”, starting with the Berlin one. An impulse on their part especially the OSCE is necessary to normalize the dialogue. Meetings in formats stemming from the “5+2” are still taking place in fact. Representatives of both the Russian Federation and Ukraine participate in them simultaneously. We see that essentially everything depends on the presence or absence of desire, political will. Options can always be found. Let this be an informal meeting. Pridnestrovie is ready for such interaction. The “5+2” format remains unchanged, while accompanying events have the right to life and can be an effective negotiating tool.
So far, we have not heard about initiatives related to holding a meeting in the “5+2” format in one configuration or another. We will discuss this issue, including during the upcoming visit of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.
RIA News:
Moldovan experts and journalists in the media have raised the topic of the “law on separatism” recently and even named the names of Pridnestrovian figures who need to be prosecuted under these articles of the Criminal Code of Moldova in their opinion. Is there a risk that Kishinev will move from words to action and begin to detain citizens of Pridnestrovie, including government officials?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
The mechanism of criminal pressure was created for a reason, and there is a risk that it may be actively used in the future based on the development of Moldovan-Pridnestrovian relations. There are alarm signals. Moldovan security forces systematically threaten with criminal prosecution Pridnestrovian officials crossing the Moldovan border.
RIA News:
The new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova Mihai Popsoi promised to organize demarches to expel Russian troops from Pridnestrovie, as well as create some kind of international coalitions for this. What could such a policy of pressure on the Russian military presence on the Dniester lead to?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
The new head of the Moldavian Foreign Ministry apparently plans to act in the spirit of his predecessors. There have been plenty of demarches against the presence of peacekeeping troops in Pridnestrovie in past years – not only under the current Moldovan government. There were attempts among other things to push through politicized resolutions at various international platforms. I consider that no resolution, no matter what level it is adopted, no coalition, no matter how representative it may be, can mean more than the safety and lives of people. This is the main thing. The fact that someone is trying to solve their immediate political problems is their business.
I am convinced that only the parties to the conflict themselves can make decisions about the future of the peacekeeping mission. If one of them considers its preservation necessary to ensure the safety of their population, then it must continue regardless of external circumstances. Position of Pridnestrovie in this regard is known and unchanged: peacekeepers, including Russian ones – as an integral component of a unique peacekeeping format that has proven its effectiveness – must remain here until the final and comprehensive settlement of the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian conflict.