As Marc Angel told journalists, the major goal of the parliamentarians' visit to Moldova and Pridnestrovie was to examine the situation on the Dniester. Earlier on, the guests met with the leadership of the Joint Control Commission and the Joint Military Command, as well as with the deputies of the PMR Supreme Soviet. According to the head of the delegation, unlike the executive leadership of the North Atlantic Alliance the members of the Parliamentary Assembly have more freedom in their possibilities for conducting a dialogue which is held “in the spirit of parliamentary diplomacy”. As Marc Angel noted, on the basis of the results of the work carried out in Moldova and Pridnestrovie a report will be prepared for the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. “We wish that this report would be as objective as possible and reflect views of all the sides,” told the head of the delegation.
According to Deputy Head of the Pridnestrovian MFA Alexander Maliarchuk, the guests were interested in the history of the conflict on the Dniester, in the issues concerning Tiraspol-Kishinev relations development after the change of power in the RM, in the prospects for negotiation process restart and also in the problems that people in the region face because of the political situation which is not completely settled down. The parliamentarians also wanted to know Pridnestrovie's attitude towards the issue of a possible transformation of the peace-keeping operation on the Dniester into the mission of civil observers. Tiraspol has a bias against such an idea till the final settlement of the conflict, said Alexander Maliarchuk. This position was fixed at international level in the Joint Statement of the Presidents of Russia, Moldova and Pridnestrovie following the results of the Moscow meeting, held on March 18, 2009.
As Marc Angel told in the interview, “we haven't brought any propositions; we are only asking questions and clearing up the views.” Speaking about the existing format of the peace-keeping operation under the auspices of the RF, he marked that the Russian Federation is “a very important partner for NATO.” “We realize that particular role which Russia plays here and its historic connections with the region,” said the head of the delegation. He estimated the conversation which took place in the PMR MFA as useful for clearing up the situation.
Summing up the meeting, Alexander Maliarchuk expressed his hope for the report of the Parliamentary Assembly to be nondiscriminatory for Pridnestrovie. “We count upon its deliberateness and objectiveness,” told Deputy Foreign Minister of the PMR.
