President met EU Special Representative for Moldova

President Vladimir Voronin met Kalman Mizsei on Friday, April 27, EU’s Special Representative for Moldova and the representative of EU in the negotiation process for the settlement of the Transnistrian dispute. According to a brief press release from the Presidency, the parties exchanged opinions on the possibility of resuming talks upon the Transnistrian dispute, pleading for launching the “5+2” format negotiations without delay. The head of state appreciated highly the participation of the EU as observer in the settlement of the dispute, as well as its active involvement, through the EU Border Assistance Mission, in ensuring security and legality at the Moldova-Ukraine border. The press release from the Presidency does not disclose any other details. This meeting took place shortly after several European officials expressed their concern about a possible existence of a secret deal between Chisinau and Moscow on Transnistria’s future. The plan is favourable to the Russian interests in the region, being in fact a new version of the well-known “Kozak Memorandum”. According to the Russian press, Kalman Mizsei, visited Moscow last week, but he could not confirm the existence of the document. David Kramer, deputy-assistant of the US Secretary of State for Eurasia told a news conference on April 27 that the authorities of Moldova assured USA that it did not receive officially any Russian plan on the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict, “These assurances came personally from President Vladimir Voronin, Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Stratan, and Minister of Reintegration Vasile Sova”, Kramer said. At the same time, President Voronin considers there are favourable premises for the unification of Moldova. In an interview published in Tuesday’s issue of the Russian newspaper “Novyie Izvestia”, Voronin said “there are real chances for the unification, after the basic factors and reasons that generated the separatism became clear”.