The deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Supreme Rada of Ukraine Igor Guz proposes actions to block smuggling from the Transnistrian region. In a news conference at IPN, the Ukrainian MP said he will insistently promote the blocking of smuggling from Transnistria within the Ukrainian administrative bodies and noted that the government in Kyiv wants Moldova to remain firm on the path of European integration chosen eight years ago.
Igor Guz said Ukraine wants the pro-European forces to win the 2018 parliamentary elections in Moldova. This is very important given that the Ukrainian society untied in the wish to integrate into the European community and NATO and needs neighbors who have similar views. Referring to the Transnistrian region, the MP said the smuggling that it allows is its vulnerable point. “The blocking of smuggling is a matter that should interest both of the sides, the Moldovans and the Ukrainians,” stated Igor Guz.
He noted the Moldovan-Ukrainian relations now need to be reviewed and stimulated as there is a danger that the pro-Russian forces will win the parliamentary elections in Moldova in 2018. The blocking of Transnistrian smuggling, from both of the sides, by Moldova and Ukraine, can help strengthen the bilateral relations. In the parliamentary session that will start soon in Kyiv, he will raise the given problem and wants similar problems to be addressed by Moldova, by ensuring stricter control at border crossing points. Another proposal is to enable Ukrainian TV channels to work in Moldova as an alternative to the Russian channels.
Igor Guz also said that during his visit to Chisinau he had a number of meetings with Moldovan officials and representatives of opposition parties and invited the leader of the Party “Action and Solidarity” Maia Sandu and chairman of the Platform “Dignity and Truth” Andrei Nastase to make a visit to Kyiv. Democratic MP Valentina Buliga, who heads the Parliament’s commission on foreign policy and European integration, was also invited to Kyiv.
