The first round of Transnistrian conflict settlement talks in the 5+2 format this year starts in Vienna on February 27. Analyst Denis Cenusa considers that this year the negotiations will be more difficult given that Moldova aims to sign the Association Agreement with the EU and this can generate unilateral actions on the part of Tiraspol.
The analyst has told IPN that 2014 will be a year when the disagreements on external matters between Chisinau and Tiraspol will be more visible. “We should not forget that Tiraspol cares a lot about the dialogue with Russia and, consequently, all the decisions in Transnistria will be taken to meet the interests of Moscow in the region,” he stated.
According to him, only Chisinau will make efforts to step up the negotiation process. It will try to reach compromises and to make concessions. “For Tiraspol, these negotiations are rather an attempt to make itself, its interests, the Transnistrian ‘statehood’ and other aspects noticed,” said Denis Cenusa.
The expert is convinced that this year we will see approaches made by Chisinau to bring the political aspect under negotiation, but Tiraspol will not accept the discussions on Basket III, which refers to the special status of the Transnistrian region. Most probably, Tiraspol will present initiatives that are of interest to Russia, such as the opening of a consulate in the region and other issues of an economic character.
According to the Reintegration Office, the first round of the talks this year will center on the situation of the Moldovan-administered Latin-script schools in Transnistria. The talks will be held under the aegis of the Swiss and Serbian OSCE Chairmanship. At the end of the round, the political representatives of Chisinau and Tiraspol, Eugen Carpov and Nina Shtanski, will hold a joint press briefing through videoconferencing in Vienna. The talks will be chaired by Ambassador Radojko Bogojević, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office for the Transnistrian settlement process on behalf of Serbia.
