Opinion makers and civil society representatives are calling on the Moldovan authorities not to recognize any elements of statehood of the Transnistrian region. In a Statement on Transnistrian Settlement Red Lines, published on Sunday, the signatories are asking the Moldovan authorities to decisively reject any unilateral guarantees claimed, proposed or bargained within the Transnistrian settlement process, which do not have the approval of the President's Office or of the Parliament and which serve the interests of foreign actors as a pretext and instrument of interference and state capture.
The signatories are expressing their deep concern over the intensification of pressures exerted over the Moldovan legitimate authorities with the intent of compelling them into making unilateral concessions that could seriously imperil the negotiation of the Transnistrian region's future status within the Moldovan borders. The mediators and observers in the 5+2 format are further asked to have regard to the interests of Moldova in settling this conflict, escalated by the presence of foreign troops within its territory.
According to the Statement, any confidence-building policy should be based on the priority of promoting human rights and freedoms, and legal remedies for any form of abuse, as well as on the observance of human rights conventions. The signatories also consider that the demilitarization of the Transnistrian region, the withdrawal of the Russian troops and implements of war is a prerequisite for a sustainable, comprehensive and final settlement of the conflict.
The signatories include: Vasile Nedelciuc, president of APE; former Prime Minister Ion Sturza, president of Fribourg Investments; Igor Munteanu, executive director of IDIS Viitorul; Eugen Carpov, former Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration, APE member; Victor Chirilă, executive director of APE; Igor Botan, executive director of ADEPT; Arcadie Barbarosie, executive director of IPP; Ion Manole, executive director of Promo-LEX; Petru Bogatu, deputy chairperson of the Journalists' Union; Iurie Renita, Moldova's Ambassador to Belgium and Head of Mission to NATO; Mihai Gribincea, Moldova's Ambassador to Romania; Leonid Litra, senior researcher, the Institute of World Policy in Kiev; Lilia Carasciuc, Transparency International Moldova; Petru Macovei, Independent Press Association (API); Adrian Lupusor, executive director of Expert-Grup etc.
