Washington, May 10 (Agency) The United Nations supports the territorial integrity of Moldova, and though it is not part of mediation there, it is always ready to offer its good offices, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday. A resolution between Moldova and its breakaway region of Transnistria is being negotiated within the so-called 5+2 format, in which Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE act as mediators, and the European Union and the United States as observers. “Our position is very clear: we respect – and we ask the whole world to respect – independence, sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Moldova … It is absolutely essential to preserve the territorial integrity, and any violation of the territorial integrity of any country including Moldova, is a violation of International law and is a violation of the UN charter,” Guterres said during his visit to Moldova. “The United Nations has never been to any mediation [in Moldova and Transnistria] but we are always at disposal for whatever will be necessary.”
Transnistria was rocked by a series of explosions last month. The local authorities introduced a red terrorist threat level and initiated a criminal probe into “the acts of terrorism.” Transnistrian President Vadim Krasnoselsky blamed the attacks on Ukraine, while Moldovan President Maia Sandu insisted that the attempts to escalate the situation in the breakaway region are being undertaken by violent forces within Transnistria, which she believes intend to drag Moldova into war. Transnistria, 60% of whose population is Russian and Ukrainian, has been seeking to secede from Moldova since the collapse of the Soviet Union, fearing that Moldova would integrate with Romania. In 1992, after a failed attempt by the Moldovan authorities to solve the issue by force, Transnistria became a territory de facto not controlled by Chisinau.