Russian meddling

You may recall in this post I wrote about the Transnistria region, a Russian-speaking area between Ukraine and Moldova that would like its independence from Moldova. It is a poor region, and rife with crime and illicit trade.

Ukraine and Moldova are now taking steps to do something about the problem.

Ukraine has finally begun cooperating with Moldova and the European Union against rampant unlawful trade across the Transnistria sector of the Ukraine-Moldova border. That 450-kilometer sector, Europe's largest "black hole," forms a major source of the secessionist authorities' income and power as well as a gateway to illicit trafficking between the Black Sea region and EU territory.

Kyiv's move marks an unexpected, full turnabout. On March 3, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers announced its political decision to start implementing the recent Ukraine-Moldova agreement, signed by Prime Ministers Yuriy Yekhanurov and Vasile Tarlev, on introducing a legal trade regime on that border. Ukraine's Customs Service Chairman Oleksandr Yehorov issued the relevant orders that same day. Both decisions in Kyiv cited EU requirements to Ukraine as well as the 2005 Ukraine-Moldova-EU Commission Memorandum on measures against illicit activities on that border.

The Yekhanurov-Tarlev agreement stipulates that exports originating in Transnistria (to Ukraine or via Ukraine) can only enter Ukrainian territory if they carry Moldovan customs stamps and relevant documents; and that imports bound for Transnistria (from or via Ukraine) can only enter Transnistria through Moldovan customs checkpoints, which are situated on Moldovan-controlled territory. Furthermore, Transnistria-based companies must register with Chisinau's authorities and obtain Moldovan certification and licenses in order to conduct legal export-import operations. Ukrainian authorities have now started applying those provisions to railway cargoes and long-vehicle road transport.

However, Russia still has troops in Transnistria, and feels a bond with the Russian-speaking people there. Russia is making hints it may not let this agreement go forward without interference.

A Kremlin-dispatched interagency delegation has completed a three-day visit to Transnistria, hinting that it would recommend strong Russian countermeasures against the international trading regime just introduced by Ukraine and Moldova on their common border with Western encouragement (see EDM, March 8, 9).

Officials who coordinate conflict operations against Georgia in Abkhazia and South Ossetia led this Russian delegation in Transnistria on March 7-9: Ministry of Foreign Affairs special envoy Valery Kenyaykin, National Security Council Deputy Secretary Vladimir Kolesnikov, and Gennady Bukayev, senior aide to Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. Kenyaykin directly handles the South Ossetia issue in Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kolesnikov settled the outcome of Abkhazia's "presidential" election by dictating the percentages on the spot in Sukhumi, a little more than a year ago (when he was Russia's first deputy prosecutor-general). Bukayev, out of Fradkov's office, publicly initiated and coordinated the Russian commercial blockade of Abkhazia in late 2004 to force nationally conscious Abkhaz groups to toe Moscow's line during and after that election.

In their public statements in Transnistria, these officials encouraged resistance to the Ukrainian-Moldovan measures and promised Russian backing. Back in Moscow on March 9, they and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched the unprecedented accusation that Ukraine concentrates troops at the border. Apparently for lack of evidence, this accusation is worded rather vaguely: "Military formations of unknown origin are being deployed on the Ukrainian side. Any spark would be enough for a possible provocation," Kenyaykin charges. "Ukraine's buildup of its military component [sic] at border checkpoints causes concern," and Russia is "considering appeals by the Transnistria leadership regarding necessary measures to normalize the situation," Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin warns (Interfax, RTR Russia TV, March 9).

Russia is going to host the next meeting of the G-8 coming up in July in St. Petersburg. Russia holds the rotating chair of the group this year.

That Russia is even in the G8 bespeaks the political nature of the group. The G8 consists of Russia, the U.S., Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Canada and Italy. Letting Russia in was more an attempt to keep them close to keep an eye on them, than anything to do with Russia's economy.

Given Russia's slow slide away from democracy, freedom and free market policies, some have said the other members of the G8 should take this opportunity to point out Russia's shortcomings.

There are bigger problems on the world stage, but perhaps the summit members could ask why Russia is opposed to clamping down on criminal activity in Transnistria.