Russian Duma's speaker expected in Chisinau

The president of the Lower Chamber of the Russian Parliament, Boris Gryzlov, will visit Chisinau on October 27-28, the Moldovan speaker told journalists on Friday, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Russian official will meet with Moldova's top dignitaries. When asked about the logic of the participation of the Moldovan president in the CIS summit in Bishkek, since he was the only president from GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) to attend the meeting, Marian Lupu has said: “This moment of logics is very clear to me.” “Starting from the prerequisite that Moldova is part of the CIS, it's a very good opportunity to discuss the current situation and the prospects within this organization,” the Parliament's speaker said. Referring to the Transnistrian settlement, Marian Lupu says the process is strongly influenced by domestic and external factors. The speaker acknowledges the talks are difficult. “It's a tough, controversial dialog to take much time,” he added. When asked to comment the fact that the Transnistrian settlement is not on the Legislature's agenda, Marian Lupu has stated “now the Parliament is playing the role it must play, and when a concrete decision is reached, that role is going to change.” Marian Lupu says theoretically it is possible to hold the parliamentary elections in a Transnistria, but in practice it will depend on the political context, including the running of the negotiations process. The speaker promises he will hold such discussions with media once in two weeks, after the Friday sittings of the Parliament.