Transnistria and Gagauzia

MOLDOVA PRESIDENT BELIEVES THERE IS NO CONDITIONS FOR TRANSNISTRIAN CONFLICT SETTLEMENT NOW, BUT DIALOG NEEDS TO BE CONTINUED

31 octomber, 2019

Moldova President Igor Dodon believes that at the present time, there are no conditions for Transnistrian conflict settlement, but nevertheless the Chisinau-Tiraspol dialog needs to be continued, he stated on the Moldova-1 public television channel on Wednesday night.

Summing up the results of his October 29 meeting with Transnistria leader Vadim Krasnoselsky, Dodon called it “very good, and our dialog was good. That was our 6th meeting over last 3 years. Previous meetings usually lasted an hour and a half or 2 hours. But last Tuesday, we talked 4.5 hours. We need this dialog. If we want to solve things, we have to meet and discuss all problems”.

The President admitted with regret that at the present time there are no proper conditions for a lasting settlement of the Transnistrian conflict by equipping the region with a special legal status.

“One cannot speak about a political settlement of the problem at the moment because there is no consensus between different political forces and power structures in Chisinau necessary for this. Without such a consensus, the Transnistrian problem cannot be resolved. But there are other problems – ones pertaining to citizens’ everyday life, and these have to be tackled”, stressed the Moldovan President.

In his words, Tiraspol also needs dialog “because Transnistria cannot be independent”.

“I understand that they [Tiraspol administration] hope for acquiring independence. But this is impossible. They will not be independent. We are in one boat with them. Without Moldova, Transnistria cannot survive. Presently, 70% Transnistria-made goods go to Moldova, from where, with Chisinau’s assistance, they are exported to the European Union. This has to be taken into account – always. Together, we will be only stronger”, said the President.

He underlined that the sides have already solved at least 6 out of the 8 problems included into the Berlin+ Package two years ago, and the rest ones are being worked on.

“We have a vision of how to solve the problem of restoration of telephone communication between the two parts of the country. On October 29, we discussed that and agreed that by March 1, 2020 a decision shall be taken. The current situation just cannot be tolerated any longer: we live nearby, but a telephone call from one bank of the Dniester River to the other one costs more than to phone to America”, said the President.

Speaking about this year’s only round of 5+2 format negotiations held in Bratislava earlier this month, Igor Dodon expressed regret that the Final Protocol of that meeting haven’t been signed yet.

“Differences pertain to Item 12 of the Protocol, which stipulates the solution of 3-4 problems raised by Tiraspol and only one problem raised by Chisinau. It is necessary to include other questions, too, in order to have parity”, said the President.

Igor Dodon voiced hope that the Protocol would be signed next week, when the discussion will be continued at the informal Bavaria conference on confidence-building measures on the Dniester.

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