Igor Smirnov wants “expert groups” from Transnistria to be called “constitutional”

The Tiraspol leader, Igor Smirnov, asks to change the name of the expert groups from Transnistria to “constitutional”, Info-Prim Neo has learnt from the Tiraspol-based news agency “Lenta PMR”. During his visit to South Ossetia, at a ceremony occasioned by signing documents of bilateral cooperation, Igor Smirnov, in the presence of the South Ossetian president, Eduard Kokoity, stated: “I sent President Vladimir Voronin the draft interstate agreement between the Transnistrian Republic and Moldova , but I have received no reply. Neither do the expert groups work. And they should be called constitutional in general”. In case Igor Smirnov's statements will have political consequences, then the status of the groups representing Transnistria will rise considerably. According to experts from “S-Centru”, such initiatives can be linked to Transnistria's will to strengthen the interstate status of the talks. The expert groups were set up to develop and implement joint projects regarding infrastructure, re-establishing the functionality of the railway, healthcare and social protection, education and youth, free movement of the population within the security zone, disarmament and demilitarization. Creating the expert groups is part of the confidence-building initiatives between Chisinau and Tiraspol, earlier launched by Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin, which may contribute to settling the conflict, in his opinion. Igor Smirnov has repeatedly criticized those initiatives calling them populist and declarative and remarking that the expert groups can't even start working because they have different positions.