American diplomat says major powers haven't reached consensus on Transnistria

Today there is no consensus between the major powers as to the settlement of the Transnistrian problem, stated William Hill, former head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, in an interview with the Analitique Newspaper, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. Ukraine has the “Yuschenko Plan”, Russia – “The Kozak Memorandum”, the USA and the UE have recently proposed to modify the peacekeeping operation, Hill explained. However, the success of the conflict resolution depends on the effort of each party as well as the joint efforts, the diplomat mentioned. Speaking about the OSCE’s activity in this regard, William Hill mentioned that several positive results were reached earlier. In four years, all the heavy armament and half of the munitions from the Colbasna depot were evacuated. OSCE was twice close to signing a political agreement, but, after the “Kosak Memorandum” (in November 2003), the negotiators divided their opinions. Given the lack of consensus in the OSCE, the organisation can no longer act as it did before, Hill stated. The American official believes that neither the presidential elections in Russia, nor those in the USA can influence the Transnistrian settlement process. “I don’t think that Russia will change its foreign policy significantly”, the former chairman of the OSCE Mission in Moldova said. According to him, there is possibility that Russians and Americans will reach some sort of an agreement, but it is too early for somebody to rely on it. In what concerns the United States of America, it had formed its policy on the Transnistrian issue long time ago: Moldova remains a unitary state and the status of Transnistria is to be negotiated, William Hill said in the interview. William Hill served two terms as head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova until the end of July 2006. In 2006 President Vladimir Voronin conferred on him the Order of Honour for “excellent merits in the development of collaboration between OSCE and the Republic of Moldova and the substantial contribution to strengthening regional stability and security".