​MOLDOVAN AND TRANSNISTRIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKERS MEET IN BENDERY

Moldovan Parliament Chairman Andrian Candu and Transnistrian supreme soviet [parliament] speaker Mikhail Burla met at the Bendery Office of the OSCE Mission to Moldova on Candu’s initiative on Monday. Speakers from the two Dniester River banks last met 13 years ago.

Candu and Burla discussed a number of essential political and socio-economic questions, including the formation of a group for dialog between Chisinau and Tiraspol parliamentarians, the participation of Tiraspol University in the Erasmus European higher education program, broadening of the zone of reacting by the Moldovan medical aviation SMURD onto the territory of Transnistria, support for dialog between the Moldovan and Transnistrian Chambers for Commerce and Industry.

The interlocutors highlighted the importance of running infrastructure development projects, particularly in the spheres of telephony, railroad electrification and emergency health service development.

Candu and Burla discussed questions pertaining to external trade starting from January 1, 2016. The European Union has extended only until this date the regime of autonomous trade preferences for Transnistria. So, starting from next year Transnistrian enterprises shall be supposed to start working like all enterprises in mainland Moldova – according to the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) signed with the European Union. So far, Transnistria is not ready for this.

Candu and Burla have agreed that the two parliaments’ first joint action will take place in Chisinau on June 1 – the International Children’s Day, which will see a meeting of young generations from both Dniester banks, when children will have the possibility to talk to lawmakers from Chisinau and Tiraspol.

“I hope that by using a small-steps tactics, without involving big politics, we will gradually make our dialog become continuous so that people’s everyday problems find their solutions, after which we will hopefully achieve solutions to other questions”, said Andrian Candu.

Mikhail Burla voiced confidence that such meetings are necessary, and that only dialog and communication can help settle many problems.