MOLDOVA-TRANSDNIESTRIA-CONFLICT-ASSESSMENT

Chisinau, March 2 (Interfax) – Prime Minister Vlad Filat deplored the “unjust” war between Moldova and its breakaway Transdniestria region that broke out 20 years ago and claimed more than 1,200 lives.

“Today is the 20th anniversary of the start of the war on the Dniester. It is a sad day for us. Twenty years ago we experienced a great tragedy, an unjust war that led to numerous fatalities,” Filat said during a ceremony on Friday where participants in the war were awarded the Memorial Cross medal.

Filat thanked all those who fought on the side of the Moldovan government, saying it was their achievement that “Moldova remains a sovereign and independent state.”

Memorial events were held on Friday both in Moldova and in Transdniestria.

Earlier, the head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe mission to Moldova, Jan Plesinger, urged Moldova and Transdniestria to hold joint memorial events, but the Transdniestrian administration rejected the idea.

The four-month 1992 war reached its peak in June when Moldovan police and militias tried to storm into the town of Benderi.

According to official statistics, 807 people on the Moldovan side and 396 on the Transdniestrian side were killed and about 4,000 people were wounded during the war.

The war ended when the then Moldovan and Russian presidents, Mircea Snegur and Boris Yeltsin, signed an agreement on June 21 on conflict settlement principles.

Under the agreement, a security zone was set up on the Dniester, a Russian-Moldovan-Transdniestrian peacekeeping force was moved into it, what is known as the Joint Control Commission was appointed, and a joint military command was set up.

[MJ EUROPE EEU EMRG POL PRO EEU EMRG]

18:20:52 EET-2