International conference on wider confidence building measures in the process of Moldova-Pridnestrovie settlement, held on September 8-9 in Bad Reichenhall, Germany, became a good opportunity for Pridnestrovie to make its' position clear for foreign partners of the republic. This information was reported yesterday at the press conference by PMR's President Igor Smirnov, who headed Pridnestrovien delegation during the visit to Germany. In the network of this international forum the meetings of the Heads of expert (working) groups from Moldova and Pridnestrovie, the meetings of the Head of Pridnestrovien state with the representatives of the Republic of Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, EU, and USA took place.
“We faced the task of bringing our vision of the situation to the notice of international partners and of mapping out concrete steps in interactions with the Moldavian side,” Igor Smirnov reported, summarizing the results of the trip to Germany. According to him, during the meeting, which took place in Germany, the Pridnestrovien side narrated about real situation, established in relations of Tiraspol and Kishinev during the last two decades. “Time is the best doctor, which helps to realize, that Pridnestrovie is not somebody's political project, but conscious choice of our nation. In Germany we reminded that Pridnestrovie never was a part of state, called the Republic of Moldova. The past twenty years did not bring together, but separated us even more,” Head of state said.
During international conference Pridnestrovie once again announced it's readiness to negotiate with Moldova on the basis of equality. “We never sabotaged negotiation process,” Igor Smirnov reminded. Talking about the possible agenda for the dialogue with the Moldavian side, he pointed, that Pridnestrovie was not intended to discuss issues, “connected with territorial integrity of Moldova”. “The attempts to include these issues in agenda condemn negotiation to failure beforehand,” PMR's President said. According to him, the main goal of the dialogue with Kishinev is ensuring of rights of the nation and solving problems of vital importance, which touch upon interests of Moldavian and Pridnestrovien people.
In the network of international conference the meeting of the Head of the PMR's Cabinet of Ministers Igor Smirnov and Moldavian Prime Minister Vlad Filat took place. Its' participants discussed the possibilities of unblocking of full-fledged rail service on the Pridnestrovien section of the railway, the prospects of complex solving of the problem in the sphere of communications, and the issues, connected with economical interaction. Final agreement and signing of Common Regulations for expert (working) groups from Moldova and Pridnestrovie became principle result of the meeting. Appraising this document, Igor Smirnov noted that its' availability allows to create necessary conditions for effective work of the experts. At the same time, he paid attention to unequivalent representation of the sides in expert (working) groups. While the groups are headed by Ministers from the Pridnestrovien side, the Moldavian side is represented by at best Deputy Ministers. According to Igor Smirnov, during the meeting with Vlad Filat he was talking about the necessity of observance of reached agreements between the sides, and about “refusal from the pressure or threat of pressure in all spheres of life, including economical one”.
In Germany Igor Smirnov also met with Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Gubarev. The issues, connected with preparation for the resumption of Moscow round of unofficial consultations in 5+2 format, which was planned to be held at the end of September, were discussed on the meeting. Besides, according to the PMR's President, separate attention was paid to the problems of the Pridnestroviens, having intention to be admitted to Russian citizenship. The situation here became more complicated after Russian consular office in Tiraspol stopped accepting applications for admittance to citizenship. “I gave the examples of how hard it is for the Pridnestroviens, both morally and materially to be admitted to Russian citizenship after this decision,” Igor Smirnov reported.
Future consultations in 5+2 format were also discussed on the meeting, held by the PMR's President with the representatives of Ukraine. Beside, according to Igor Smirnov, the issues, connected with economical and transport interaction with the Ukrainian side and the problems of documentation observance of citizens' rights.
As reported by the Head of state, on the meeting with the representatives of the European Union he put a question about the impossibility of realization of European projects on the territory of the PMR in case, if they will be implemented according to Moldavian laws. “European representatives concurred with this. If help is given on our territory, it must be given according to our laws,” Igor Smirnov noted. According to him, the issue, connected with creation of legal foundation for interaction of Pridnestrovie with European institutes was also discussed during the meeting.
Appraising the fact of his invitation to Germany, the PMR's President noted, that he did not consider this to be recognition of Pridnestrovie de facto. “This is rather the recognition by the European Union of the essence of the processes, happening here, the acknowledgement of the fact, that stability in the region could be again put under threat by the actions of the nationalists. It is an attempt to find stable long-term decision,” the Head of state said. Answering the questions of the journalists, he reported that the members of the Pridnestrovien delegation were sure, that they were safe during the visit to Germany. According to him, the OSCE – the side, that send invitations and that is responsible for the security all over the European continent, was not interested in any provocations
On the threshold of the fifth Anniversary of the Pridnestrovien Referendum of 2006 journalists asked the PMR's President to evaluate the level of interaction between Russia and Pridnestrovie formed during these years. In connection with this Igor Smirnov noted, that the results of nationwide voting, held on September 17, 2006, remain the basic guideline of the politics of Pridnestrovien leadership. According to the President, continuing process of harmonization of Pridnestrovien legislation with that from Russia, including PMR's recent constitutional reform, serve as striking illustration of this fact. “This reform became the evidence of that fact, that we are building such system, which will allow us to integrate in Russia gradually as one of Russian regions, but with the rights of independent state,” Igor Smirnov said. He expressed gratitude to the Russian Federation for its' efforts and for economic support of the PMR. “Russia will never permit somebody to destroy the Pridnestroviens – neither economically, nor physically,” Pridnestrovien President noted.
