Romanian president says Russia has lost confidence

01.12.2010 Romanian president Traian Basescu declared that Bucharest holds Russia in distrust because of Russian troops deployed in Transdniestria, in close proximity to Romanian border, reported France Presse.

"We do not feel ourselves comfortable, because Russian troops are deployed along our northern border in Transdniestria. We are not happy at all with the fact of extension of Russian agreement about its fleet basing in Sevastopol", said Basescu in the interview to Romania Libera.

Russian task group deployed in unrecognized state of Transdniestria is a successor of Russia's 14th combined-arms army and numbers about 1,500 servicemen. The group's major tasks are training for peacekeeping operations and guard of ammunition stores in Kolbasny, 120 km northward Tiraspol.

As for the experts, there are about 19,000 tons of ammunition at the task group's depots. To withdraw them, at least 35 trains would be needed. Systematic removal of Russian warlike equipment from Transdniestria was suspended late 2003 due to subsequent tension between Kishinev and Tiraspol caused by failure to sign memorandum on Transdniestrian problem.

Peacekeeping operation in Transdniestria is conducted by Joint Peacekeeping Force consisting of 402 Russian servicemen, 492 Transdniestrian, and 355 Moldavian ones, as well as 10 Ukrainian military observers. Peacekeepers serve in 15 stationary pickets and checkpoints located in key sites of security zone.

As for Basescu, Moscow does not trust Bucharest either.

"If Russia is so fond of Black Sea states, why the need for such a large fleet in such a small sea?" wondered the president.

On Apr 21 Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement prolonging deployment of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in Crimea for 25 years after 2017 with potential extension for 5-year periods upon mutual consent.

Nowadays, basic objectives of Black Sea Fleet are protection of Russian economic zone and production activity areas; suppression of illegal production activities; maintaining security of civil shipping; execution of foreign policy actions in key economic areas of the World Ocean (visits, official calls, joint exercises, co-operative activities within peacekeeping forces etc).