MOSCOW, June 8 (RIA Novosti) - Moldova has asked NATO and the EU to help it free itself of a troublesome Russian military presence by replacing the Russian peacekeepers in Transdniestria (a self-proclaimed republic in Moldova) with a contingent of "blue helmets" that would be more loyal to Chisinau.

Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin made a statement on this in Brussels and later in Strasbourg yesterday, a daily, Noviye Izvestia, reports today.

According to the majority of Moldovan experts, Moscow's policy is stopping with the unification of the country, i.e., it prevents Chisinau from taking back the control over separatist Transdniestria. Chisinau believes the Tiraspol regime (headed by its president, Igor Smirnov) would have collapsed long ago if it had not been for the support of "certain Russian circles". Russian peacekeepers that have been in the region since a bloody conflict ended in 1992 and the remnants of the Russian army, which has been present in Moldova for about 200 years, help to maintain the status quo.

In Brussels, Voronin asked the Europeans to support a solution to the Transdniestria problem proposed by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. Early parliamentary elections in Transdniestria and the abolition of the post of president (by the newly-elected Supreme Council) are important aspects of the scenario suggested by Ukraine. In essence, the paper writes that the Ukrainian plan envisions regime change in the region according to the Adzharian scenario (when President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili granted this province autonomy, and then severely limited the terms after regional leader Aslan Abashidze had secured refuge in Russia) and includes Transdniestria becoming an autonomy in the future.

However, Russian weapons' dumps in Transdniestria hinder the implementation of this plan. The Russians have been removing the stockpiles for 10 years, but the remaining ammunition still poses serious a threat both to Moldova and the neighboring Ukraine. If a provocation were to occur, an explosion would affect both countries. In order to avoid possible incidents, Kiev and Chisinau will have to negotiate with Russia, which still guards this dangerous property reliably.

Andrei Savelyev, the deputy chairman of the State Duma's committee on CIS affairs, said the Russian military contingent would remain in Transdniestria. Any attempts to replace it, along Georgian lines, would be regarded as a military provocation.