In Moldova, the OSCE has embarked on a project to dispose of the single largest munitions and weapons stockpile left behind by the Soviet army, in total more than 40,000 tons of material stored in Colbasna in the north of the country.

First time for OSCE

On 3 October 2001, experts from a tripartite working group, drawn up by the OSCE Mission to Moldova, presented at the OSCE headquarters in Vienna a 'scope study' for the disposal of Russian munitions in Moldova to those OSCE participating States who are or will be financial contributors to the project.

This is the first time the OSCE has developed a plan for the disposal of such a large amount of munitions and heavy weaponry in one of the areas of military conflict that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

The OSCE Mission to Moldova established the tripartite working group in June this year, together with representatives of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence and the local Transdniestrian administration to assist and support the process.

An important breakthrough

"The work of this tripartite group and the scope study it has produced is a breakthrough that reflects the intention of all the parties involved to seek an acceptable resolution to this too-long 'frozen conflict'", said Ambassador William Hill, Head of the OSCE Mission.

"This achievement can serve as an example in other, similar cases", he added.

The experts' visit to Vienna follows extensive trips to ammunition disposal firms in Russia, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands in August and September.

Background
The Russian Federation agreed at the 1999 Istanbul OSCE Summit to withdraw its armed forces still stationed in Moldova by the end of 2002, including their heavy weaponry and munitions.

The destruction of heavy weapons at the Operative Group of Russian Forces base in Tiraspol has already begun in June, with the help of an OSCE voluntary fund and under the supervision of the OSCE Mission to Moldova.

Besides Colbasna, a large part of the munitions and weapons are also stored in Tiraspol, the capital of the breakaway Transdniestrian region.

The area

Colbasna is a small town in the northern part of the Transdniestrian region, less than 2 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. Moldova has a population of 4.32 million and a territory of 33,700 square kilometres. It also has borders with Romania, to the west.