politics

Moldova Parliament Speaker Marian Lupu met with the Speaker of Transdniestria's Parliament Yevgeny Shevchuk in Brussels on Wednesday. Yevgeny Shevchuk had been invited to the Belgian capital by the European Union. On Thursday he is expected to address a conference at the European Parliament about 'de facto' independent states.

Moldova's President Vladimir Voronin blames Romania for lack of progress in "solving" Moldova's territorial claim to Transdniestria. "Every time relations improve between Transdniestria and Moldova, there are hysterics in Romania," he says. He also says Romania provoked Moldova into launching military attacks against Transdniestria in 1992.

Following their first meeting in nearly seven years, the Presidents of Transdniestria and Moldova voiced cautious optimism about the future of their negotiation process. Igor Smirnov thanked his Moldovan colleague for a "frank conversation". In turn, Vladimir Voronin voiced hope that formal status settlement talks can resume within a week.

The President of Moldova arrived in Transdniestria on Friday for the first meeting in seven years with his Transdniestrian counterpart. Vladimir Voronin and Igor Smirnov spoke for an hour and a half in Bender, Transdniestria's second largest city. The President's press service expressed "cautious optimism" on the negotiation process.

There will be no "home court advantage" for Moldova's President Vladimir Voronin when he meets his counterpart from Pridnestrovie for the first time in seven years. President Igor Smirnov is unwilling to meet on Moldovan soil. He fears a new kidnapping, and remembers his own time spent as a political prisoner in solitary confinement in Chisinau.

With the latest statement passed by Russia's Duma, Transnistria (Pridnestrovie) and two other unrecognized countries are now one step closer to international recognition. Russia already recognized the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria. The statement also says they are now democracies with all the proper attributes of statehood.

A week after Kosovo unilaterally declared that it wanted to be a separate country, Pridnestrovie seeks international recognition of its own independence based on the "Kosovo Precedent". The move follows nearly twenty years of fruitless discussions with Moldova over the territory's future. Any solution must be based on the free will of the voters, says a leading politician in Tiraspol.

The Speaker of Pridnestrovie's Parliament will not rule out the eventuality of a common state with Moldova at some point in the future. Yevgeny Shevchuk says that a 1997 agreement between the sides entails a commitment for Pridnestrovie to consider all options, including the option of a joint state of some sort with Moldova. A lot will now depend on the willingness of Moldova's regime to let positive trends develop.

According to Transdniestria's Foreign Ministry, international recognition of the unrecognized country will enhance stability. This position is supported by the country's parliament. Two opposition legislators stress that Transdniestria is peaceful republic and not the cause of any problems to anyone.

Pridnestrovie has to normalize its relations with the governments of Ukraine and Moldova, and find ways for all three parties to coexist peacefully in a shared space. That is the opinion of PMR Parliamentary Speaker Yevgeny Shevchuk. The young pro-democracy politician says that "they are our neighbors and we should agree on the terms of living with them."