Interim President Mihai Ghimpu wants Russia to withdraw all its troops from the Transdniester region
25.06.2010
Interim President Mihai Ghimpu issued a decree telling Moscow to withdraw its 1,500 troops "unconditionally, urgently, and transparently" -
the first such direct call from a Moldovan leader.
Russia had pledged to withdraw its troops - who have been stationed in Transdniester since Soviet times -
by 2002 under a 1999 agreement brokered by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, but it has failed to fulfill its promise.
Moldova (10) -- Analyses -- 2010
More about the situation
25.06.2010
Transdniester declared independence from Moldova in 1990 and fought a war with Moldovan forces in 1992 that left 1,500 people dead.
The conflict was quelled by Russian forces stationed there which intervened on the separatists' side.
Konstantin Kosachev, who heads the Russian State Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Russian daily "Kommersant" that Ghimpu's decree is "nonsense."
But Kosachev said Russia has to officially react to the last paragraph of the decree, which describes Russian troops in Transdniester as "occupation troops."
Bulgarian