Ireland to play peace broker in Moldovan dispute

ELECTIONS IN divided Moldova could help decide the success of Ireland’s efforts to end one of Europe’s longest-running conflicts, when it chairs the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) next year.

Moldova and the unrecognised rebel “republic” of Transdniestria are trying to elect presidents, ahead of talks in Dublin aimed at resolving a 20-year-old dispute that sparked fighting in 1992.

Transdniestria, a strip of land wedged between the rest of Moldova and Ukraine, is home to a mostly Russian-speaking population of about 500,000 people and has been run for two decades by Igor Smirnov.

He is accused of allowing smuggling of goods, people and arms to flourish in Transdniestria, which is still home to some 1,500 Russian soldiers. Russia props up Transdniestria, and analysts say Moscow uses the region to hamper Moldovan efforts to join the European Union and Nato, so maintaining a buffer between ex-Soviet states and the western blocs.

Moscow suffered a surprising defeat in Transdniestria this month, however, when Yevgeny Shevchuk beat Russia’s preferred candidate Anatoly Kaminsky and an angry Mr Smirnov came third.

The two leading candidates will now contest a run-off on December 25th. Whether Moldova and, next year, Ireland will find it easier to deal with them than with the lugubrious Mr Smirnov is a moot point; experts warn that no major politician in Transdniestria openly backs reunification with the rest of Moldova or acts independently of Russia.

In the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, parliament yesterday failed yet again to elect a president, continuing a two-year deadlock. The ruling pro-western alliance does not have quite enough seats to install its candidate, and the communists ousted in 2009 reject any compromise. Parliament must vote again within a month, and another failure would trigger a snap general election.

Moldova’s foreign minister, Iurie Leanca, said his government wanted to capitalise on last month’s breakthrough in the conflict with Transdniestria, when formal peace talks brokered by the OSCE resumed after a six-year hiatus. More negotiations are scheduled for Dublin in February.

“We really hope Ireland’s OSCE chairmanship will achieve significant progress,” said Mr Leanca, noting that peaceful reintegration of Transdniestria was Moldova’s desired outcome. “Ireland has lessons for us from its own recent history, from experience of a painful but successful peace process.”