Dutch propose EU peacekeeping force for Moldova

The Netherlands has proposed sending European Union peacekeepers to back the settlement of a decade-old dispute between the ex-Soviet state of Moldova and its breakaway Dnestr region, diplomats said yesterday.

The proposal, floated this week in a paper at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), would have to be handled carefully by the 15-nation bloc because Moldova still lies in Russia's sphere of influence.

Russia has some 500-600 troops which it refers to as "peacekeepers" in Dnestr, a region bedevilled by arms smuggling, money laundering, human trafficking and drugs. OSCE sources said it had up to 1,400 troops in the country.

One diplomat said that as Russia is one of the 55 participating states in OSCE, a consensus organisation, the EU would need to "proceed with caution". If it does field a force, it would almost certainly include a large Russian contingent.

Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman Bart Jochems said the OSCE had been in contact with both Nato and the EU to discuss the possibility of raising a limited peace force.

However, the Dutch paper specified that a peacekeeping operation could be subcontracted by the OSCE "to an international organisation such as the European Union".

"This is not an entirely new idea," said an EU diplomat. "But the Dutch, as current chairman of the OSCE, are now pushing around the idea that the EU should play the key role in implementing a peace agreement."