European security : The role of the OSCE in the Transnistrian conflict in the Copenhagen school perspective

Résumé du document

Along with entities such as Abkhazie or South Ossetia, Transnistria is one the non internationally-recognized states of Europe. Transnistria is widely seen as a hub for a spectrum of illegal activities and as a matter of concern in term of security for many countries. Before going any further, it is necessary to implant the historical background of the constitution of Transnistria (or Pridnestrovie in the russian acceptation). Under the dominance of the USSR after the Second World War, Moldova underwent a politic of excessive Russification, which prolonged the one started by the tsarist empire from 1812. This policy has had a greater resonance in the eastern part of the country, where a majority of the population is of Slavic origin. In response to Moldova's declaration of sovereignty on 23 June 1990, a "Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic? was proclaimed in Tiraspol, Moldova's second largest city on the left bank of the Dniestr. Non-Moldovan populations feared that Moldova, once fully independent, would wish to reunite with Romania.

Extraits

[...] According to a basic definition, insecurity results of the aggregation of three factors: hostility x force x opportunity. To get security one of these elements must be brought to with using among others reconciliation, disarmement or deterrence. In this case the OSCE chose, according to its means and functioning, the two first soltions. It aims to make a peaceful settlement of the conflict; wich would put an end to Transnistria's role as a “black hole” source of all possible threats. [...]

[...] Experts also agree that pressure should be put upon transnistrian shadow economy, so as to make the status quo less attractive. The European Union Border Assistance Mission EUBAM was launched in 2005 and aims to strenghten border gard and customs on the border between Ukraine and Moldova, thus making smuggling more difficult. A EU-Moldova Action Plan was also signed in February 2005. One can imagine that the European Union action in Moldova might be more efficient than the one of the OSCE, for it a more homogeneous structure in term of security and it can be seen as a Regional Security Complex, more able to lead a politics of securitisation. [...]

[...] Transnistria could even been seen as what Buzan calls an “insulator”, a buffer zone between two different Regional Security Complexs (European Union vs Russia and the CIS). Conclusion Romanian entry in the European Union means that the UE now shares a border with Moldova weakened by conflict and plagued by corruption and organised crime. The situation is all the more worrying as Molova's borders are really porous; As a result the European Union is getting more involved in a research of political settlement of the conflict and promotion of EU security interests, through its ‘Near Neighbhoring policy”. [...]

[...] Disarmement and withdrawal of the the Russian 14th army would make the situation be less tense and crush transnistrian confidence. Thus the OSCE has a conciliatory and negotiation-based approach of securitisation. The OSCE has made many attempts since its implementation in Moldova to settle the conflict, through its mediation, the use broad consultations to develop concrete proposal, elaboration of draft agreements which later led to the Kiev Agreement in 2002 and to many rounds of negotiation. Nevertheless Moldova and Transnistria failed to find a final agreement, even if they agreed on some declarations of intention. [...]

[...] The authors distinguish five main sectors: the military sector (with the state, armed forces as referent objects), the political sector (sovereignty, ideology, European Union, international regimes the economic sector (national economies, regimes of global market the societal sector (large scale collective identities ) and the environmental sector (survival of species, protection of the climate, biosphere To understand to what extent Transnistria is a threat to OSCE's security (understood through Buzan's analyse), it is useful to remenber that the OSCE was created in 1975 (Helsinsky final Act following the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe of 1973) and composed of three dimensions: stability and security, economic environmental scientifique and technique cooperation, human rights. Transnistria is a major country of origin and transit for trafficking in human beings. Mostly the victims are women and children used for sexual exploitation. The trafficking also include people used forforced labbor, begging, stealing, organ harvesting The country is also mainly based on its shadow economy. [...]