No chance to settle Transnistrian issue ahead of elections: experts

There is no change to settle the Transnistrian conflict before the spring parliamentary elections in the spring of 2009, as the Moldovan leadership had promised. The opinion belongs to the team of experts working for a project of the Public Policies Institute (IPP) called “Board of experts for the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict”, Info-Prim Neo reports. The member of the [National Board of Experts (NBE)] expressed their joint view on the current situation around the Transnistrian conflict at a conference on December 17. [Director of IPP project Oazu Nantoi,] says “Russia's policy concerning the Transnistrian issue remains incompatible with Moldova's territorial integrity and sovereignty for now.” According to Nantoi, the Transnistrian conflict cannot be solved as long as there is no convergence between Russia's position, based on the key elements of the Kozak memo (federalization, Russian military presence), and the one of Moldova, grounding on the law on the principles of the legal status of the localities on the Nistru's left bank, included into the so-called “package proposal” of Chisinau. Oazu Nantoi opines “a possible meeting between President Vladimir Voronin and Tiraspol leader Igor Smirnov, realized under the Kremlin's pressure, will have by no means any positive results for Moldova.” [IPP's president Arcadie Barbarosie] considers there will made no concrete steps to settle the Transnistrian issue at least until the middle of the next year, since a new parliament is to be elected, plus the Government and the President. His forecast are pessimistic for short and long terms. In the long term, Barbarosie maintains the conflict may be solved, if the Chisinau authorities manage to erode the influence of the Tiraspol administration on the left bank and to strengthen the democracy on the right bank of the Nistru. Resorting to his experience of a former negotiator, [independent expert Vlad Lupan] has remarked that the Transnistrian side invokes the need to wait for a new Government, as a rule ahead of elections. During such period, also the Moldovan political parties focus on the race. The project “the Board of experts for the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict” is implemented by the IPP with the financial support of the Black Sea Trust Found for regional Cooperation. The experts meet once in two two months and are intent to invite experts from the left bank.