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Moldova’s breakaway republic requests observer status at UN

The Transnistrian leader noted that there is already such an example in global practice — Palestine — which is not a UN member, but has a status of an observer state

Tiraspol, Transdniestria EPA/DUMITRU DORU

Tiraspol, Transdniestria

© EPA/DUMITRU DORU

TIRASPOL, September 20. /TASS/. Moldova’s breakaway republic of Transnistria has asked the United Nations to grant it a special status of an observer state.

The parliament of Transnistria unanimously approved and sent the request to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and President of the UN General Assembly Miroslav Lajcak.

"Transnistria can and is ready to become a responsible and reliable partner for the UN ensuring democratic, progressive and non-conflictual development of half a million people in the heart of Eurasia. In this context, I ask you to consider the issue of granting Transnistria a special status of a UN observer state," says the document signed by President Vadim Krasnoselsky and Parliament Speaker Alexander Shcherba.

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Transnistria asks the UN to set up a permanent international working group on its problems and pass a resolution condemning any pressure against the republic "leading to the violation of unalienable rights and freedoms of its citizens and provoking the rise in tensions in the whole region."

The Transnistrian leader noted that there is already such an example in global practice, namely Palestine, which is not a UN member, but has a status of an observer state. He said the self-proclaimed republic, a largely Russian-speaking region, has existed for more than 27 years, and is home to representatives of different ethnic groups, whose opinion is not heard in the UN.

Krasnoselsky also voiced concerns over the growing tensions with Chisinau and the stalled 5+2 talks (Moldova and Transnistria as conflicting sides; Russia, the OSCE, Ukraine as mediators and observers from the US and the EU).

In August, Moldova requested the United Nations that the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria be included in the agenda of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly. Chisinau also insists that the peacekeeping mission deployed to the Transnistria separation zone be transformed into a civil mission with an international mandate. However, Tiraspol says that in 1992, such mission failed to prevent an armed conflict which eventually claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people.

Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the conflict zone in accordance with the Agreement on the principles of the peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova, signed with Chisinau on July 21, 1992. Since then, not a single person has been killed in hostilities there.

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