Authorities do not have an alternative approach to Transnistrian conflict, Euromonitor

The Moldovan authorities do not have an alternative or complimentary approach to the ‘small steps’ tactic in the Transnistrian conflict settlement talks in order to convince the Transnistrian leaders to accept to discuss the major problems so as to identify a durable solution to the conflict, which remains ‘frozen’, said the authors of the quarterly report “Euromonitor”, which was compiled by the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT) and the Independent Analytical Center “Expert-Grup”, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a roundtable meeting, ADEPT director Igor Botan said that a positive difference compared with the previous years is that the intensity of the divergences decreased. But this intensity still persists and is fueled by the events in the Society Zone and the adoption of military doctrines and foreign policy of the breakaway republic, which run counter to the tasks and efforts of the Moldovan authorities. According to the report, new tensions in the relations between Chisinau and Tiraspol appeared after special customs duties were introduced on the Moldovan goods taken to the eastern districts. The provided explanation was that measures had to be taken to protect the national producers of goods on which excises are imposed, but this explanation does not reveal all the nuances, which are probably connected with the Transnistrian representatives’ dissatisfaction with the obstacles met by the banking system of the region in the relations with banks from the U.S. and the EU. Igor Botan also said that the potential of the approach based on the strengthening of the confidence-building measures was exhausted owing to the exclusive concentration of the representatives of the Transnistrian administration on the humanitarian and socioeconomic problems, while such problems as the working out of the region’s legal status, the withdrawal of the Russian army and munitions and the modification of the format of the peacekeeping mission were neglected. According to the expert, the massive financial and political support provided by Russia to the separatist region will continue to motivate their disinterest in addressing essential aspects of the Transnistrian dispute. The report was produced based on the monitoring of the way the Moldovan authorities fulfilled the commitments within the European integration process over July-September. It was compiled with the financial support of Soros Foundation Moldova within the project “EU – Moldova Relations – Monitoring the Progress in the European Neighborhood Policy Context”.