Voronin, Smirnov diverge in almost everything

Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin and Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov seemed to have discussed from completely different positions at their meeting in Tiraspol on Wednesday, with Voronin pleading for a reintegrated Moldova and Smirnov for an independent Transnistria, Info-Prim Neo's field correspondent reports. Vladimir Voronin presented to Smirnov a law on Transnistria's special status, which was adopted by the Moldovan Parliament in 2005 and included in Chisinau's “offer package”, while Smirnov relied on the outcomes of a referendum held in 2006, according to which most of the population in the breakaway province chose independence or integration into Russia as an alternative. Voronin refused to discuss Smirnov's proposals, saying he would discuss only with an equal party, and Transnistria is not. At the meeting it was agreed that the tax collected from the Moldovan citizens at Transnistria's border would be annulled. The Moldovan President also vowed support to the region in times of difficulty, promising care homes for the elderly and residential institutions for the children. The next meeting is scheduled for March 2009, it was reported.