Ukraine will broach Palanca issue after Moldovan local elections

Ukraine intends to request that Moldova transfers control over a strip of land near the Moldovan village of Palanca along the Odessa-Reni motorway immediately after local elections are held in Moldova, stated Ukraine's Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishenko, Info-Prim Neo learned from the on-line version of the Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Post. “Our position remains firm and I think everybody understands that this is an obligation Moldova should have fulfilled 10 or 12 years ago. The Ukrainian authorities will not stand for any further delay or extenuation”, Konstantin Grishenko told a meeting of the Ukainina legislature. According to the Ukrainian minister, immediately after the general local elections in Moldova, Kyiv will insist on starting discussions, including at the level of foreign ministries, to clarify the options for cooperation between both countries, and the issue of the land in Palanca will not be an exception. A 7.7 km portion of the Odessa-Reni motorway crossing the Moldovan village of Palanca has been transferred under Ukrainian jurisdiction in conformity with a protocol to the Moldova-Ukraine Border Agreement, which was signed on 18 August 1999. Under the document, Ukraine has also made a claim for a strip of land along that portion of the road.