MOLDOVAN PREMIER SPEAKS FOR STRONGER EFFORTS TO ENSURE SECURITY

Eastern European countries should apply greater efforts to ensure security because everybody is interested in a greater stability and predictability in the region, Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip stated on Thursday, speaking at the Kiev Security Forum.

Filip said the main threat to security in the region is caused by protracted conflicts and foreign military presence.

"Foreign military presence is a serious obstacle to a peaceful settlement of disputes because it promotes the preservation of crisis-like situations and is an incentive for destructive forces and their separatist plans", stated the Premier, meaning indeed the continuing presence of Russian troops in Transnistria and the Russian Federation's support for the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan Republic.

In his words, Moldova consistently stands for an unconditional withdrawal of the Russian troops and for transforming the current [since 1992] military peacekeeping operation on the Dniester into a multinational civilian mission under an international mandate.

According to him, at the recent Munich Security Conference (MSC), Russian representatives explained to the Moldovan delegation that Moscow cannot pull out its arsenals from Transnistria [some 20 thousand tons of armaments and ammunition] due to the unstable situation in Ukraine and the known complicated relations with the Kiev leadership.

"But we are convinced that Moscow has enough possibilities to persuade the Ukrainian Government. We have no doubt that in case of need the Ukrainian partners will provide a corridor for removing the Russian troops with their arms and ammunition that is still remaining in Transnistria. From its part, Moldova will back Ukraine in its efforts to overcome the crises in Donbass and in the Crimea to thus resolve the problems by using political and diplomatic means, as well as to restore the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine", stated Pavel Filip.

Touching on the perspectives of settling the Transnistrian conflict, the Moldovan Premier said that one of Moldova's chief priorities remains the elaboration and adoption of a special legal status for Transnistria within a sovereign and territorially integral Republic of Moldova.

"This concept of the conflict settlement must ensure that in the future, the integral state be viable and able to focus on democratic reforms and European integration", stated Prime Minister Pavel Filip.