Authorities talk reintegration much but do little: study

“The Chisinau authorities talk too much about the country's reintegration, but do too little,” Iulian Chifu, the co-author of a study on the Transnistrian issue, told a news conference on Friday, Info-Prim Neo reports. Chifu, the director of the Early Warning Center from Romania, has added that “no problem is ever settled by miracle,” hinting no concrete steps have been made in this respect. “As long as you don't build it step by step, brick by brick, you cannot solve a problem as the Transnistrian one is. You need tools, people, local public administration, at least. You need some leaders,” he said. “The study has been carried out by experts from Romania, Moldova and Ukraine, and proves that the separation of powers in Moldova is fiction, the dialogue between the power bodies and the civil society is not there, and the sporadic and spontaneous initiatives of the Moldovan leadership may have grave consequences for the country's future and statehood,” said Oazu Nantoi, the Moldovan co-author of the research. When asked when may happen if the planned between between Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin and Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov does not take place, Nantoi has said “after the Voronin-Smirnov meetings nothing positive emerges. They are useless, since Igor Smirnov is a nobody, he's but a political puppet of Russia.” “The Chisinau authorities' attempt to rapidly solve the crisis through a dialogue with the Kremlin has led to nothing. It means Russia does not want this conflict solved,” he said. The trilateral research is part of a project funded by the US Marshall Foundation and has been carried out by Iulian Chifu from Romania, Oazu Nantoi from Moldova and Oleksandr Sushko from Ukraine.