Voronin to stay in politics after 2009 elections

In an interview for the Muscovite radio station “Ekho Moskvy”, President Vladimir Voronin has avoided to call a possible successor to the country's leadership after his mandate ends in the spring of 2009. But he says he won't leave. “I shall not claim anything special, but I will be in active politics. I'll help the young statalists will to create, to do big deeds for Moldova,” Voronin said, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. Referring to the presence of Russian military in the Transnistrian area, the president has said it is the merit of the peace-keepers “that all these years, there have been no victims, no losses.” Officers from the contingent of 1,800 Russian military who keep the armament stores from Cobasna say there there is ammunition evacuated from the former Warsaw Treaty countries, “when the Soviet Union was being destroyed.” “But we don't know what exactly is in those warehouses and this is very bad. We don't know for over 8 years,” Vladimir Voronin pointed out. Referring to the Transnistrian conflict, the president has said the Orthodox Church subordinated to the Russian Patriarchate is the only institution uniting the Nistru's two banks. “It's paramount all the Transnistrians are Christians of the Russian Orthodox Church as all Moldova. Over 90 % of the Moldovan Christians are subordinated to the Russian Orthodox Church,” Voronin said. The president states Moldova has prepared its own package of documents on the basis of which the Transnistrian issue is to be solved. The question is about 2005 Law on the principles on the Transnistrian area's status, a draft basic law on the status of the Transnistrian autonomy and a plan providing for the gradual settlement of the issue and a set of guarantees. The head of the state has said Moldova will insist the talks in the 5+2 format should ground namely on discussing this documents. Voronin has said he has got reactions to this proposal from all the participants in the talks, short of Russia and Transnistria. The president believes Russia is waiting for Tiraspol to decide on its attitude. The head of the state has not denied he also discussed directly with Russia on the settlement, but has insisted: “these are consultations from which Smirnov has run away for all these years.” At the meeting of Moldovan and Russian presidents in Sochi in August, they agreed that Voronin was to meet with Smirnov. “Now I see the metamorphosis having happened in this Smirnov”, the president said angrily. “He either doesn't like the place, or asks for guarantees, or is busy.” The Moldovan president has called this behavior as “of a rabbit” and has reiterated “Smirnov's place is at the garbage dump of politics.” Observers note that, traditionally, in crucial moments in the Transnistrian settlement, Russia media interview Vladimir Voronin, and then go for discussions with leader Igor Smirnov.