To the 10th Anniversary of Signing of the Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Republic of Moldova and the Pridnestrovien Moldavian Republic

04/09/11

10 years ago, on April 9, 2001, Presidents of Moldova and Pridnestrovie, Vladimir Voronin and Igor Smirnov, signed Joint Statement which contained a whole number of fundamentally important provisions as regards the Moldova-Pridnestrovie relations normalization, and which among other issues stated the equality of the sides in the negotiation process, intention of the sides to consider issue of joining the Union of Belarus and Russia, as well as granting Russian official-language status and stepping-up interdepartmental work.

This document became a starting-point for revitalization of joint work aimed at solution of a whole number of problems relating to protection of citizens' rights and freedoms, economic activity and other aspects of cooperation. Specific dates and parameters of meetings at the level of top leadership and field-specific bodies of executive power were set and legal force of previously signed agreements was confirmed.

An immediate result of the Joint Statement's signing was approval of a whole block of bi- and multilateral documents designed to bring about normalization of relations between the Republic of Moldova and the Pridnestrovien Moldavian Republic in key spheres. Mutual recognition of documents, unimpeded activity of mass media, guarantees of attraction and protection of foreign investments, law-enforcement activity, harmonization of tax and customs legislation, and concrete mechanisms of agreements' fulfilment – all these could open the door to a final settlement.

However, statements failed to be proven by real steps and instantaneous political ambitions of the then leadership of the Republic of Moldova prevailed over common sense. The Moldovan authorities were not ready for a serious laborious practical work on implementation of the reached agreements and fulfilment of their political and legal commitments. Such position caused break-down of the negotiation process and moved off prospects for relations settlement. As a consequence, the sides with the assistance of the mediators were forced to create subsidiary negotiation mechanisms, inter alia the Permanent Consultations on Political Issues in the Framework of the Pridnestrovien Settlement Negotiation Process.


Today the Moldovan leadership also declares its readiness to step up the dialogue and resolve accumulated problems in bilateral relations. Dominating in international contacts are positive rhetoric and very high expectations. However, taking into account experience of 2001 and inconsistent position of Moldovan authorities, the Pridnestrovien side finds it vitally important to carry out the planned work on settling practical issues for the benefit of the people of Moldova and Pridnestrovie, regaining the fulfilment of earlier signed documents and creating multilevel system of guarantees of implementation of previously signed agreements, including those of transitional character in order to avoid recurrence of a ten-years-old experience and achieve manifestation of real political will to the dialogue at different levels, inter alia, in the line of the heads of executive power of the Republic of Moldova and the Pridnestrovien Moldavian Republic.

Tiraspol, April 9, 2011