The Kosovo model can not be applied to other frozen conflicts in the region

Kosovo can not serve as a model for solving other “frozen” conflicts in the region. This statement was made during a meeting between the EU special representative for Moldova Adriaan Jacobovits de Szeged and President Vladimir Voronin. The discussion focused on the results of the meeting of the observers and mediators, held in Madrid on January 25-26, and the prospect of resuming the negotiation process for settling the Transnistrian dispute. Voronin appreciated the meeting’s results, stating that Moldovan authorities back the proposals of the mediators (OSCE, Russia, Ukraine) and of the observers (USA, EU) regarding the resumption of the talks on the settlement of the dispute. Also, the head of state reiterated the fact that Moldovan authorities created necessary mechanisms for legalising the foreign trade activities of the Transnistrian entities, which is actually ensuring the legal access of the goods made in Transnistria to the EU and CIS markets. Two weeks ago, during the visit of Romanian President Traian Basescu to Chisinau, Voronin said he discussed with his counterpart about the Serbia-Kosovo conflict and that it “has a certain influence” on the Transnistrian one, though they are not “closely connected”. Basescu said in turn that the settlement of the conflict in Kosovo may create a precedent for the resolution of the Transnistrian dispute.