MOLDOVA’S CREDIBILITY DWINDLES ON RUSSIAN TROOP WITHDRAWAL.

The deputy to the Moldovan parliament Pyotr Shornikov, co-chairman of the Edinstvo movement and a leading Russian hardliner in Moldova, reverts in the current issue of the Moldovan Socialist Party’s weekly Spravedlivost to the earlier demand, long since abandoned, to keep Russian troops in Moldova. Two of Shornikov’s arguments: first, "the Moldovan leadership has never seriously pursued the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transdniester." It has only gone through the motions of doing so, according to Shornikov, "in order to please the West and press economic concessions out of Moscow." Second, President Mircea Snegur’s current moves toward a pro-Romanian course alarms Transdniester and contributes to postponing a settlement of the conflict, according to Shornikov. (20)

The statement comes in the wake of repeated failures by Moldovan representatives at recent international gatherings to raise the issue of the Russian troops unlawfully stationed in the country. At the current UN General Assembly session, Moldova failed again to introduce a resolution on the matter, despite its official statement back in 1993 that it would offer such a resolution if Russian troops did not withdraw the following year. Moldovan diplomats often explain this passivity by pointing to the lack of authorization from president Mircea Snegur, who controls the important steps in the country’s foreign policy.

Belarus Constitutional Confrontation Continues.