MOLDOVA’S REINTEGRATION SHOULD BECOME A PARAMOUNT PRIORITY FOR AUTHORITIES – FOREIGN MINISTER

Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Aureliu Ciocoi said in an interview to the Unimedia portal that the issue of country reintegration must become a national and international priority for the official Chisinau.

“In my current post I am convinced that the country reintegration should be a number-one task for the Republic of Moldova. I am sure that the prolonging of this conflict, its non-settlement since 1992 makes impossible the country’s economic development”, Ciocoi said.

According to him, the Transnistrian conflict can be easily resolved and it is even unlawful to call it a conflict in this context.

“As you see, there is no shooting on the Dniester River since 1992. Several years ago there was an incident when a young man from the Transnistrian region was shot at crossing the Dniester bridge, but there were no other shooting or victims since then. This is a conflict which unfortunately continues in heads of the so-called leaders of the Transnistrian region of Moldova”, the minister said.

According to him, there is no conflict at the level of people – they travel, cross the so-called administrative line between the mainland Moldova and the Transnistrian region.

“The only place where there this conflict still exists is in heads of these leaders, who insist on its continuation. Because if something changes and the country reunites, the questions will appear whether there are any leaders yet in Transnistria”, Ciocoi said.

Speaking about concrete plans of settlement, the minister said that national consensus on this issue should be found and presented to external partners.

“First of all, we have to sit here, in Chisinau and find the solution. We should achieve national consensus, what we want, how we see the resolution of this conflict, that is the status the Transnistrian region will receive in a reintegrated Moldova”, the minister said.

He maintains that the national consensus should be achieved, while then it should be presented to 5+2 format international partners.

“The problem is in Chisinau, in the fact that we are unable to achieve a consensus since 1992. Some say they propose one model, others – radicals – maintain that we do not need the Transnistrian region and the final boundary should be put on the Dniester. The problem can be resolved easily on the basis of consensus at the national level after consultations with international partners”, Ciocoi said.