For the reintegration of the Republic of Moldova, a fund for the support of the population from both sides of the Nistru needs to be constituted, former Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Gheorghe Bălan stated in a public debate hosted by IPN. According to him, the support fund should be created according to the model that contributed to the reunification of Germany and should help the population of the Transnistrian region to feel the advantages of reintegration.
Gheorghe Bălan noted that given the energy crisis faced by the country, the Moldovan authorities should propose a support package also for the citizens from the left side of the Nistru so as to prevent eventual impoverishing of the people from the separatist region. The Moldovan constitutional authorities should have different approaches to the population from the left side of the Nistru and the self-styled Transnistrian authorities.
“Those from the Transnistrian region should be divided into the so-called administration and the region’s population. In the case of the population, we do not have another solution than to promote the soft policy by engaging all the relevant institution so as to gradually extend the services and concessions enjoyed by the citizens from the right side of the Nistru to those from the left side. These policies should be promoted regardless of the length and evolution of the settlement process. Amid the current crisis, the official Chisinau’s responsibility towards the citizens from the left side of the Nistru increases. We should start to discuss with the partners the creation of a reintegration fund similar to the one that existed in Germany and helped this to reunify. We now need this fund so as not to allow the economic, social situation to worsen. We should propose an attractive social package for the population from both sides. It goes to pensions, subsidies for gas and privileges for business entities that could fully benefit from the advantages of the trade with the EU,” stated the ex-Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration.
According to Gheorghe Balan, the country’s foreign partners support the Moldovan authorities when these punish the Transnistrian administration for the committed illegalities.
“We should be tough on those who violate the basic human rights and freedoms, who commit crimes in the Transnistrian region. All the foreign partners would support us on such a line. At the same time, the foreign partners consider we should apply the soft policy. There are sufficient problems and tensions in the region and it is not the case for the constitutional authorities to take harsh actions with regard to the population,” stated Gheorghe Balan.
As to the war in Ukraine, the ex-Deputy Premier said the risk that the Transnistrian conflict will unfreeze persists, but the population from the region, the businesses and political elites in Tiraspol do not want an escalation of the conflict.
“All the frozen conflicts, especially those in the ex-Soviet space, showed that they can be easily unfrozen if someone is interested in this, like the Russian Federation. It happened so in Georgia, Ukraine. Russian unfroze conflicts and brought them to a hot war phase. But the population from the right side and also from the life side does not want to fight. Do the companies, managers of large businesses on the left side of the Nistru want a war? Surely not. The money likes quietness. The population wants peace, but risks persist,” explained the ex-Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration.
The public debate entitled “Chisinau-Tiraspol relationship amid worsening crises: new opportunities and dangers” was the 266th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
