International inspectors: No arms production in Pridnestrovie

Despite pro-Moldova propaganda to the contrary, Pridnestrovie is not an arms producer or exporter of weapons. It's "military industrial complex" turned out to be a shoe factory, an agricultural processing facility and a radio assembly plant, as the first of a series of visits by international inspectors unveiled. After freely touring factories and industrial facilities in Pridnestrovie in early February, 2006, the international governmental inspection team produced its first public report and submitted it to the international community on February 9. It could not be more clear in its praise of Pridnestrovie's openness: Nowhere, in any single instance, did the team find any trace of anything that could be indicative of any arms or military equipment manufacture whatsoever.

Earlier, Western diplomats in Moldova and Ukraine had already declared to the US-funded Radio Liberty that they considered the reports of arms smuggling from Pridnestrovie to be "wildly exaggerated". In a joint report by Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe, officials from the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) publicly declared that there is no evidence of Pridnestrovie ever having trafficked arms or, for that matter, nuclear material. The diplomats attributed the false alarm to efforts by the Moldovan government to increase pressure on Pridnestrovie.

In its dealings with the international community Pridnestrovie has shown a responsible, clear attitude to working closely with international partners on improving regional security. The country, as one Western diplomat puts it, is "above board" and "an open book".

It is in Pridnestrovie's own interest to once and for all disprove the allegations of arms manufacture or weapons smuggling. In the words of the country's foreign minister, Valeri Litskai:
" - We openly invite foreign inspectors to come to Pridnestrovie for the monitoring of the companies which supposedly manufacture weapons. We have been accused of this by Moldova, but such accusations are easily put to rest by just checking the facts."

As early as 2003 the country's president, Igor Smirnov, suggested that an international inspection team should participate in the monitoring of Pridnestrovie's borders for the purpose of clearing up the accusations of smuggling.

EU's external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner liked the idea, and - starting in 2005 - a $6 million European Union program was put in place. A border monitoring mission from the European Union has been checking the transit of goods on Pridnestrovie's borders since 2005, filing monthly reports on its finding. The result? A "clean" bill of health for Pridnestrovie, confirming that Pridnestrovie's 800+ km of borders are tightly controlled and that smuggling is a thing of the past.

Backed by its own on-the-ground monitoring mission, the European Union confirms that Pridnestrovie is not involved in smuggling of any kind. Officials of the OSCE have had to admit the same thing. Despite evidence to the contrary, Moldova still attempts to portray Pridnestrovie as a "black hole" for weapons manufacture and smuggling. However, when interviewed by American journalists for Radio Liberty in October of 2005, EU commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said she has "never" seen any evidence for these charges.

Pridnestrovie earns its income from a variety of legitimate exports, among them: Textile, some of the best cognac (brandy) in Europe, electrical supplies, clothes, shoes, metal and construction materials. When it was part of the Soviet Union, it was developed as a highly industrial region of the MSSR, and its concentration of working factories of light and heavy industry is much higher than in Moldova.

In Tiraspol, foreign minister Litskai affirms that Pridnestrovie will keep working with international delegations and invites an expanded, OSCE- or UN-sponsored monitoring mission to inspect and supervise both the borders of the nation and any industrial facility within the country itself. Willing to implement a policy of openess and transparency, the elected government of Pridnestrovie is showing that the country is the victim of a smear campaign by Moldova — and that the facts, as certified by international monitors, are solidly in small and independent Pridnestrovie's favor.

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