More Authority Need For EU Inspections of Transnistria |
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| Tuesday, 14 November 2006 | |
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dpa German Press Agency Published: Monday November 13, 2006 Chisinau- The European Union monitoring mission to the border of the breakaway region Transnistria needs more authority to do its job properly, a senior Moldovan official said Monday. Russian-speaking Transnistria seceded from Romanian-speaking Moldova after a civil war ending in 1992. The EU established a team of customs officers and police along Moldova's unofficial border with Transnistria in 2005, in an attempt to help Moldova reduce smuggling rampant in the region. Moldova appreciates the assistance, but the EU mission needs expanded authority to have significant impact on smuggling, said Vasyl Tarlev, Moldova Prime Minister, according to an Infotag news agency report. Moldovan law enforcers have previously called for giving the EU monitors the right to detain suspects, to detain dodgy freight, and to make detailed inspections of goods moving through the region. At present the EU monitors, a mix of police officers and customs specialists contributed to the mission by more than a half-dozen European governments, may only give advice. Unrecognised by any state, the Transnistria province supports itself primarily by exporting its own manufactures and transit goods without paying the Moldovan government excise taxes, and so making Transnistrian exports cheaper than most competition. Moldova has tried for years to force Transnistria back under its control through increasingly tight economic blockades. Chisinau had hoped the EU mission would choke off Transnistria completely, but local smugglers thus far have managed to evade both the Europeans and the Moldovans. ?? 2006 dpa German Press Agency
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