Analyst Vladimir Socor, of Jamestown Foundation and Eurasia Daily Monitor, said the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who had been in Moldova on a visit, is not to resolve the Moldovan-Russian conflict on Moldova’s territory, but to legalize the separation of the Transnistrian region from Moldova. The statements were made in an interview for Radio Free Europe, quoted by IPN.
According to the analyst, Frank-Walter Steinmeier presses Moldova to work out a special status for the Transnistrian region. This status has been discussed for many years and a particular behavior was practically imposed on the Republic of Moldova so that it adopted a special status at a certain moment. The notion of ‘special status’ is typical of the post-Soviet area, which is a Russian hegemonic area. It is not a European notion, but is an invention of Russia, which dates from the 1990s and is almost 20 years old.
“If the Republic of Moldova concedes and starts to work out a special status, the pressure on Ukraine will intensify and a precedent will be set for Ukraine to make the same concessions, on which President Poroshenko insists and which the Ukrainian parliamentary alliance opposes,” stated Vladimir Socor. On the other hand, if President Poroshenko and the Supreme Rada of Kiev yield to the pressure there, it will be hard to resist the pressure exerted on Moldova. According to him, these two problems must be seen in correlation. Those from Chisinau should consult those from Kiev and together must resist this scheme that Russia tries to impose with the support of Steinmeier.
Asked if the two banks of the Nistru could be reunited in the near future, Vladimir Socor answered negatively. According to him, the Republic of Moldova is a financially and morally bankrupt state with failed state institutions. In such a situation, it would be a fatal danger for Moldova to start the reunification process.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid a visit to Moldova on July 25-26 as the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. After a meeting with Prime Minister Pavel Filip, the official said that Germany considers the Transnistrian region must be offered a special status, but only as part of the sovereign and territorially integral Republic of Moldova.
