Voronin scratches meeting with Smirnov

Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin yesterday evening canceled his visit to Tiraspol, scheduled for this morning, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a press release from the Ministry of Reintegration, issued yesterday in the evening, it was said that the decision came after Igor Smirnov had banned the mediators in the 5+2 negotiations from entering the breakaway region. “The interdiction imposed on the mediators in the 5+2 talks on behalf of the United States and the European Union demonstrates that the Transnistrian side is not ready yet to fulfill it commitments and continue the dialogue as planned”. The Ministry of Reintegration expressed its hope that the Transnistrian authorities would lift the ban. “Chisinau sees this as the only reasonable and productive way to continue the consultations”. According to the agency Noviy Region, the Transnistrian leader blacklisted three diplomats: the European Union's special envoy to Moldova Kalman Miszei, US Ambassador to Moldova Asif Chaudhry, and Czech Ambassador to Moldova Petr Kypr. Smirnov said the ban came in response to the extension of a travel ban imposed by the EU and US on the Tiraspol leaders. Smirnov and Voronin were due to meet in Tiraspol to discuss a set of proposals called by the Moldovan authorities as confidence building measures. The meeting was arranged on March 18 in Moscow, where the two leaders agreed, convinced by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, to resume the talks in the 5 +2 setting (Moldova, Transnistria, Russia, Ukraine, and OSCE + SUA and UE), in the first half of 2009.