PMR PARLIAMENT TO TAKE FOREIGN MINISTER TO TASK FOR DIPLOMATIC FAILURES
Tiraspol Times & Weekly Review
Marc h 19 2008
Moldova
On April 2, Pridnestrovie’s Parliament is calling Valeri Litskai to
task in a special session set to deal with foreign policy failures.
The unrecognized country’s Foreign Minister will be asked about
his lack of results in obtaining recognition. In 2005, Parliament
ordered his Ministry to seek closer ties with other countries and
open diplomatic missions abroad.
By Jason Cooper, 19/Mar/2008
TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) – Being unrecognized is no excuse for having
a weak diplomacy. That is the opinion of Pridnestrovie’s Parliament
which on 2 April 2008 will take Foreign Minister Valeri Litskai to task
for his Ministry’s failings in establishing an effective diplomatic
presence abroad, and for lack of breakthroughs in the efforts to seek
international recognition of the country’s de facto statehood.
During the Government Question Time, Parliament will be asking the
Foreign Minister about the foreign policy outlook, Parliament’s press
service reports.
" – The information is important both to the deputies and the
population. We know how events in the world unfold, so we have to
better coordinate action of executive and legislative agencies of
the state authority," said Parliamentary Speaker Yevgeny Shevchuk,
stressing that better oversight is needed in order to make sure
that the foreign policy objectives are indeed being carried out:
"We have to hold such sessions regularly."
Weak diplomacy Being an unrecognized state is no excuse for not having
an active diplomacy. In fact, other non-U.N. members such as Taiwan or
Palestine have a diplomatic presence which is larger and more active
than many larger, fully recognized states in the world.
" – It is a fact that lots of African nations are limited to a couple
of embassies here and there, and of course their United Nations
mission," says a former U.N. employee who now works with new and
emerging countries. "Whereas the states that really need to make their
voices heard, such as Taiwan, are much more active and have over one
hundred representative offices abroad."
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is another unrecognized
de facto state which despite its unsettled legal status nevertheless
has dozens of diplomatic missions abroad, including representations
in Washington and at the United Nations.
The Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) also has a fully staffed Washington
office, and Somaliland – independent but unrecognized – has a presence
in London as well as diplomatic offices in a number of other major
capitals. Even Abkhazia, with less than half of Pridnestrovie’s
population and a much smaller economy, has more than a dozen consulates
and representative offices abroad.
Being taken to task on April 2, Valeri Litskai will have to inform the
parliamentarians on his Ministry’s progress in establishing diplomatic
missions abroad for Pridnestrovie.
" – Of all the unrecognized countries in the world, there is only
one which is doing worse than PMR. That is South Ossetia," says the
ex-U.N. staffer.
Not enough diplomatic representations abroad Parliament decided that
heads of town and district councils will be invited to the session
of April 2.
The Foreign Minister is to give information about the current overseas
missions of PMR’s foreign ministry and those that are planned for
the future, including their tasks, goals and the results (or lack of
results, as the case may be) of their work.
In cases where a state such as Pridnestrovie is prevented from
opening full embassies abroad, due to its lack of formal diplomatic
recognition, it can instead open representative offices which are
staffed with full time, professional career diplomats and carry out
most of the functions of an embassy. Such work includes ties to the
host country’s foreign ministry and political leaders, for the purpose
of political and foreign policy lobbying.
Valeri Litskai’s report to Parliament will also deal with how PMR’s
MFA has been implementing the foreign policy objectives of the republic
and will include an analysis of the international political situation
in the context of recognition of Kosovo by a number of states, recent
shifts in the system of international law and international relations,
and the development of Pridnestrovie’s foreign trade as a tool of
Taiwan-style economic diplomacy.
2005 foreign policy goals In 2005, Parliament passed a law setting
out the foreign policy objectives and guidelines which the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and other government organs had to follow.
Among the key points is an adherence to the PMR’s sovereignty which,
although not recognized by others, is nevertheless real with actual,
not virtual or hoped-for, independence being an undeniable fact on
the ground.
>From the document:
"Pridnestrovie’s status is that of a separate independent state as per
2 September 1990. Today the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica
conducts foreign policy from the premise of a sovereign, independent,
democratic, legal, and secular state."
In the 2005 law, specific instructions are handed down for the Foreign
Ministry to follow. Chief among them is to establish relations with
other countries:
"Pridnestrovie seeks to become a full subject of international law and
to establish its relations with other subjects of the international
system on the basis of equal rights, cooperation, mutual respect,
and partnerships."
To make the point even clearer for Valeri Litskai and his officials,
Parliament also told the Ministry to broaden friendly relations with
other countries and find new allies elsewhere in the world. From
the text:
"Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica is interested in an increased
number of allies"
and – to clarify the job description even more – the following
statement:
"Relations with other foreign countries and international
organizations are of paramount importance to Pridnestrovskaia
Moldavskaia Respublica."
On 2 April, Tiraspol’s top diplomat will get a chance to explain to
lawmakers how he has carried out their mandate – and, in particular,
address the areas where he has failed to do so.
http://www.tiraspoltimes.com/node/1655