Alexandr Stoianoglo, the candidate for President supported by the Party of Socialists, believes that a fair status for the Transnistrian region within the Republic of Moldova will significantly strengthen the country. According to him, the results of other failed approaches are felt daily, and now it is necessary to return to the dialogue based on the provision of a guaranteed status, which would strengthen Moldova’s unity and power, IPN reports.
“The current government abandoned the constitutional and international commitments on the settlement of the Transnistrian issue, based on the granting of a guaranteed status to the region. It is essential to return to this major objective of the previous negotiations because a fair and stable status for Transnistria within the Republic of Moldova will significantly strengthen the country,” Alexandr Stoianoglo said at a press briefing.
The candidate also said that, as the head of state, he will focus on dialogue. “All decisions related to the Transnistrian region and its inhabitants must be taken exclusively through dialogue. We must eliminate hate speech and any form of discrimination against the Moldovan citizens in Transnistria. We have an extensive agenda of topics to discuss, from social and economic issues to ecological and legal issues. The inhabitants of Transnistria must not be hostage to conflicts between elites. We need to restore stability and trust and offer them certainty that positive changes are achievable,” stated the former prosecutor general.
The election contestant noted that a solution to the Transnistrian conflict cannot be imposed by force. According to him, the people on both banks of the Nistru have long since overcome such primitive methods of conflict resolution, being aware of the human and social costs of internal conflicts that last for decades.
According to experts, the “5+2” negotiation format has little chance of producing significant results in the near future, given the current geopolitical context. Ukraine and Russia, the two main mediators, are involved in an open conflict. Tiraspol insists that the dialogues with government officials be exclusively in the “5+2” format. The official Chisinau advocates direct “1+1” negotiations under the supervision of the OSCE, excluding the Russian Federation, which it considers an aggressor state.
