​MOLDOVA LEADERS LAY FLOWERS TO MONUMENT SEPARATELY FROM CONFLICT VETERANS

On Wednesday morning, Moldovan President Igor Dodon, Parliament Chairman Andrian Candu and Prime Minister Pavel Filip laid flowers to the Monument of the Mourning Mother at the Eternitate Military Glory Memorial in Chisinau – separately from veterans of the 1992 combat actions on the Dniester.

Addressing to the present relatives of fallen warriors, Speaker Candu stated that “it is only thanks to the fallen heroes that there is a state power in Moldova for continuing the struggle for reunification of the country”.

“We shall continue negotiations with Tiraspol to prevent the repetition of the bloody combats of 1992. We will be learning again how to live together with Transnistria. We will equip Transnistria with a legal status as to a part of our country. The country leadership is intending to work for the good of all citizens of Moldova and to ensure peace and security in every home – from Cahul to Camenca and from Briceni to Slobozia. Our country is too small to let it be split up, but it is substantially large to be home for all”, said Andrian Candu.

According to the plan of today’s commemorative events dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Transnistrian armed conflict onset, on Thursday morning many hundreds of conflict veterans gathered in the Chisinau's main square and laid flowers to the monument to Moldova’s medieval Gospodar [King] Stefan cel Mare. Together with them, flowers were laid by Minister of the Interior Alexandru Jizdan and Information and Security Service (ISS) Director Mihai Balan.

After than, all of them marched over to the Eternitate Military Glory Memorial and to its Monument of the Mourning Mother, where a rally of combat veterans was held. It was attended by the leaderships of the Ministry of the Interior and the ISS, the independent Republic of Moldova’s first President Mircea Snegur etc.

It was believed initially that the Moldovan leaders would take part in that rally. However, the President, Parliament Speaker and Prime Minister visited the Memorial earlier in the morning. Last year, when Candu and Filip tried to take floor at an analogous March 2 rally, they were hissed off by veterans who did not let them speak.

As already reported by Infotag, on the night of March 1-2, 1992 unknown people opened fire at a military jeep with militiamen from Dubossary town, who were trapped into an ambush by a false telephone call. It is not known for sure until now who staged that provocation. Naturally, various sources keep accusing both the Moldovan and the Transnistrian side.

After that night incident, the Transnistrians seized the Dubasari Raion subdivision of Moldovan police, and its policemen were delivered to Tiraspol. Subsequently, they were exchanged for the Transnistrian Cossacks captured by the Moldovan side.

Already on March 2, the first combat broke out for the weaponry arsenal of the Moldovan military base deployed near the Cocieri Village. On that day, first human losses appeared from both sides. However, the bloodiest combats unfolded in Bendery city on June 19-20.

An end was put to the armed conflict on July 21, 1992 when the Agreement on the Principles of a Peaceful Settlement of the Armed Conflict in the Transnistrian Region of Moldova was signed between Chisinau and Moscow.

The Transnistria settlement negotiations are continuing until now, and the joint peacekeeping forces of Russia, Moldova and Transnistria are present on both sides of the Dniester in conformity with the 1992 Agreement.

According to Chisinau’s official data, the 1991-1992 armed conflict on the Dniester involved over 30 thousand military from the Moldovan side, of whom 386 persons were killed (including local civilians), hundreds were wounded or/and were disabled. The Transnistrian side says it lost nearly a thousand people in the armed clashes.