Moscow played an important role in convincing Igor Smirnov to reopen 5+2 format talks

The leader of Transnistria Igor Smirnov agreed to resume the official Transnistrian conflict settlement talks in the 5+2 format on September 22 at Moscow’s insistence, reports the Russian paper Kommersant (http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/1771133). Igor Smirnov’s decision was influenced both by the interest of the Russian commission of inquiry into the activities of the members of his family and by Moscow’s decision to stop granting Russian citizenship to residents of the Transnistrian region, recommending the Russians living in the area to apply for Moldovan permits of stay. Igor Smirnov is himself such a citizen, said the paper, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. According to the newspaper, Russia’s special representative to the conflict settlement talks Sergey Gubarev said at the similar conference held one year ago, Chisinau and Tiraspol only accused each other, but now the sides identified common problems and ways of solving them. He stated that the informal dialogue did not allow adopting legally binding documents, but the renewed official talks will provide the instruments needed to make progress in the settlement process. The fact that Igor Smirnov agreed to resume the talks is already a sensation given that presidential elections will take place in the breakaway republic in December. The current leader, who for 20 years maintained that Tiraspol needs independence from Chisinau, will also run in them. On September 9, Igor Smirnov took part in an international conference organized by the OSCE in Germany. On its sidelines, he had a meeting with Prime Minister Vlad Filat with whom he signed a document on the Transnistrian conflict settlement talks.