The year 2018 must be the year when a final variant of the political solution to the Transnistrian conflict will be detailed, said President Igor Dodon, noting that he hopes a compromise in this regard will be reached on the President – Parliament – Government platform, IPN reports. “We, the presidential administration, elaborated such a document with concrete stages, how we see this process in the immediate period, and are ready for compromises on the issue,” the President said in the conference held to mark a year in office on December 12.

According to Igor Dodon, if Moldova does not have good relations with Russia, and with the EU and the U.S., it will never be able to solve the Transnistrian issue and the current government should understand this, while the opening of the NATO office in Chisinau is one of the additional impediments to the settlement of the Transnistrian issue. “I think those who initiate such actions realize very well these things that derive from the narrow interests of a party and have nothing to do with the national interests,” stated the President.

Asked to comment on the statement made by the Transnistrian leader Vadim Krasnoselski, who accused Igor Dodon of not knowing the history and of changing for several times his position on the status of Transnistria, pleading for federation, autonomous region with a special status and then again for federation, President Dodon said he never changed his position. “I said that it does not matter how this is called, region with a special status or federation. It will be political consensus. It is very important what is there inside, the political settlement of the conflict. If the colleagues from the left side of the Nistru agree, it will be very well. They already took the first steps, such as the apostilling of university diplomas. By this they admitted that they are part of Moldova,” he stated.

Speaking about the actions designed to resolve the Transnistrian dispute, Igor Dodon said he had two meetings with the Transnistrian leader this year, after a pause of eight years. He organized different meetings with Transnistrian deputies where he proposed addressing the pressing problems faced by the people from both sides of the river. For the first time, officers of the President of the Republic of Moldova for Transnistrians were opened in Rezina, Varnita and Cosnita, where presidential advisers have audiences with people from the region.