Vladimir Voronin: Transnistrian dispute will be solved soon basing on Law on Transnistria’s Status

Moldova’s President Vladimir Voronin says that the Transnistrian conflict will be solved soon on the basis of the Law on the Status of Transnistria. Moldova will make a new, internationally-guaranteed declaration of neutrality, Info-Prim Neo reports. In an interview with the Muscovite newspaper “Kommersant”, Vladimir Voronin refuted the rumors of secret talks over a solution to the Transnistrian dispute. The head of state said that the Law on the Status of Transnistria, on the basis of which the conflict would be settled, stipulated the rights, obligations and method of administration relevant to Transnistria after the unification of Moldova. The law envisages a mechanism that will guarantee the fact that both sides, Chisinau and Tiraspolul, will observe the law and the plan of action that will be implemented. The Moldovan president said that Moldova now needs to adopt a new declaration of neutrality that will be internationally-guaranteed. Vladimir Voronin said that such a declaration is now being drafted and will be presented to all the parties involved in the talks in the 5+2 format, except Tiraspol, for signing. The given declaration will be included in the package of documents that will be discussed at the talks in the 5+2 format, when they resume. If the parties accept the documents as an appropriate settlement mechanism and the fact that Transnistria will be an autonomous republic as part of Moldova, they will be signed by the heads of states. Afterwards, the action plan will be implemented. According to Vladimir Voronin, the factors that contributed to speed up the dispute resolution are the EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine and the registration of the Transnistrian economic entities with the relevant Moldovan authorities. According to the Moldovan president, if the Transnistrian conflict is solved before the 2009 elections, MPs from Transnistria will enter the Moldovan Parliament to represent the interests of the region. Moldova will insist on withdrawing the peacekeeping forces and on replacing them with civil observers, the head of state said, stressing that Moldova in the future would be not only neutral, but demilitarized, too. The president made it clear that Moldova could withdraw from GUAM. “We must gain advantages from the presence in any of the organizations. If there are no advantages, the interest of forming part of such an organization fades away. GUAM is an organization of dull perspectives,” Voronin said. Asked about the US$1.5 billion debt for the gas supplied to Transnistria, Vladimir Voronin said that Moldova would inherit this debt. “We will try to solve this problem together with Russia and the EU. Maybe Russia will help us for the sake of the unification process, in which is plays a decisive role,” Vladimir Voronin said.