Joint Control Commission notified about restricting by Tiraspol of free movement of OSCE Mission's representatives in Moldova

Chisinau, 14 July /MOLDPRES/ - The participants in a working meeting of the Joint Control Commission (JCC), held in Bender on 14 July, resumed discussions on the situation in the Security Zone, the Reintegration Policies Bureau has reported.    

A new weekly report, presented by the Joint Military Command, proved the maintenance of the posts unilaterally set by Tiraspol starting from 26 April under the pretext of an alleged terrorist danger.   

Moldova’s delegation reiterated the position on the illegal and provocative character of the actions of the Transnistrian power wielding forces, undertaken without the decision by the Joint Control Commission and asked for the unconditional withdrawal of the post from the perimeter of responsibility of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces.   

The representatives of the OSCE Mission in Moldova, who exercise powers of monitoring of the Security Zone, notified the Commission about the fact that they were intimidated and their free movement was restricted by Transnistrian power wielding structures. Thus, starting from 11 July this year, the monitoring teams of the OSCE Mission in Moldova were forcibly ‘’accompanied’’ by representatives of structures subordinated to Tiraspol. Moreover, the Transnistrian ‘’accompanying people’’ denied to the monitoring team access to the Grigoriopol settlement.      

The OSCE Mission in Moldova described the actions by the Transnistrian power wielding structures as a serious infringement of the free movement principles.   

During the discussions, Chisinau’s Delegation firmly condemned the illegal actions deliberately organized by Tiraspol against representatives of the OSCE Mission in Moldova and demanded the immediate ceasing of any manifestations of hindering the free movement in the Security Zone.   

It is worth mentioning that OSCE Mission in Moldova works in the Security Zone in accordance with the principles of cooperation with the Joint Control Commission signed on 10 December 2004. The Mission has mandate to provide JCC the support needed for achieving the goal of the ceasefire agreement from 21 July 1992 on the principles of peaceful settlement of the armed conflict from Moldova’s Transnistrian region.     

At the meeting, the attempts to find consensus on the issue of illegal posts failed, because of the destructive and provocative behavior of the Transnistrian delegation.