According to what Transnistria’s representative to the Russian government, Leonid Manakov, told the TASS news agency on Monday, the number of peacekeepers in the region does not exceed 450, while the level of personnel established by the ceasefire agreements ought to be 3,100.
In Manakov’s opinion, the increase in the number of Russian peacekeepers is legally possible and justified in case of provocations and terrorist threats, it is also conditioned by the documents adopted as part of the activities of the peacekeeping contingent.
The diplomat explained as well, that the peacekeeping contingent could be increased at the expense of Russians living in the Transnistrian republic.
The peace in the Transnistria conflict zone is kept by joint peacekeeping forces, of which 402 are Russian soldiers, 492 are from Transnistria itself, 355 from Moldova and 10 from Ukraine.
In 1992, several districts on the eastern bank of the Dniester, mostly Russian-speaking persons, rebelled against Chisinau and proclaimed the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, fearing that Moldova would merge with neighboring Romania after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Chisinau responded by sending troops into the seceding territory, and by this sparking an armed conflict that lasted several months.
Transnistria is currently a territory outside the control of Chisinau, with all the attributes of a state, including its own currency.
jrr/llp/jf/gfa
