President thinks all actors involved have conceived of solutions to Transnistria dispute

Solutions to the Transnistria dispute have already been developed in the mind by all the main actors involved, President Vladimir Voronin stated at his traditional year-end press conference, held on Wednesday, December 19. The head of state could not tell how he arrived at this conclusion, but said that time will show to what extent his expectations are true. Speaking on the Transnistria settlement, Vladimir Voronin said that he doesn’t possess information regarding Russia’s support offered to Transnistria, but recognised that there are certain contradictions in Moldo-Russian relations on this subject. The official Chisinau has some suppositions and, as a protection measure, had an EU assistance mission opened at the border. Still, not all the problems in this respect have been solved, the President said. Commenting on the confidence-building initiatives that he launched this autumn, Vladimir Voronin said that, unfortunately, the self-proclaimed authorities in the region of Transnistria left his proposals without any answer. Moreover, the separatist leaders hinder the local population from enjoying certain facilities offered by Chisinau, the head of state remarked. Among the presidential confidence-building initiatives are the cancellation of restrictions on the free movement of officials and persons holding important positions, joint participation in the formulation and carrying out of projects on the restoration and modernisation of the infrastructure, especially in the transport sector, implementation of measures on gradual demilitarisation and disarmament, constitution of joint armed forces, and other. While the West praised Voronin for his initiatives, the top leaders of Tiraspol, including Igor Smirnov and Valeri Litskai, rejected the proposals.