Peacekeepers in Transnistria ‘Hinder’ EU-Moldova Affairs – Romanian MEP

The European Union (EU) should take bigger steps to force Russia to withdraw its peacekeepers from Transnistria, said Andi Cristea, the chair of the Romanian Parliament’s delegation to the EU-Moldova cooperation committee and member of the European Parliament (MEP), according to Regnum News Agency.

According to Cristea, Russian peacekeepers hinder progress in the key areas of the European neighborhood policy.

The Romanian MEP also added that the EU must pursue "bold and ambitious policy" towards its neighbors.

"We need to do more for those who decided to follow the European path. Moldova is a perfect example in this case," Cristea said, as cited by Regnum.

Transnistria is internationally recognized as part of the Republic of Moldova, but is a de-facto independent state. The region declared its independence from Moldova after the War of Transnistria in 1990-1992, which ended with a ceasefire on July 21, 1992.

As per the 1992 ceasefire agreement, a 1,200 member Russian peacekeeper contingent was established and still present in Transnistria.

Last month, Ukraine decided to block Russian peacekeepers from entering Transnistria, thus violating the 1992 peace agreement between Moldova and Transnistria. This undermines Kiev's status as one of the guarantors of the Transnistrian peace process and could potentially destabilize regional security, said Nina Shtanski, the foreign minister of Transnistria.

Neither Ukraine nor Romania are direct participants of the dispute between Moldova and Transnistria, however both Kiev and Bucharest (the capital of Romania) are, for whatever reason, keep getting involved in the process.

Ukrainian and Moldovan forces increased their activity near the borders of the tiny region, said President of Transnistria Yevgeny Shevchuk on Thursday. The president stressed the peaceful nature of Transistria's foreign policy and expressed hope that authorities in Kiev and Bucharest will understand that.