Today, in the PMR's Foreign Ministry a meeting took place between Deputy Head of the Republic's foreign policy department, Alexander Malyarchuk, and the official delegation of Danish diplomats which consisted of the Head of the Danish MFA's department for EU-Russia neighborhood policy, Ruben Madsen, and the Councilor-Envoy of the Danish Embassy in Bucharest, Jorgen Tranberg.
The interlocutors discussed the political situation in Pridnestrovie and neighbouring Moldova in the perspective of the elections to the Supreme Soviet of the PMR and to the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. Danish diplomats raised issue about confidence-building measures between Tiraspol and Chisinau. In particular, foreign guests were interested in the level of interaction which has established between Moldovan and Pridnestrovien authorities.
In his comments on the situation, Deputy Foreign Minister of the PMR Alexander Malyarchuk marked that the absence of a fully valid government in Chisinau restricts the possibilities for carrying out joint efforts with the Moldovan side. “At the same time, even in such circumstances we try to solve concrete problems existing in the relations between Moldova and Pridnestrovie which affect the life of the population,” Alexander Malyarchuk told. He specified these matters were put in focus of expert (working) groups of both sides. Deputy Foreign Minister added that these days a review conference on confidence-building measures is being held in the German town of Garmisch where the heads of sectoral groups are taking stock of their work in the expiring year.
According to Alexander Malyarchuk, one of the urgent problems which demands today's resolution in relations between Moldova and Pridnestrovie is a question of external economic activity of Pridnestrovien enterprises. The diplomat stressed that reluctance of the Moldovan authorities to ensure the right of Pridnestrovie for free external trade which was fixed in the 1997 Moscow Memorandum, has led to a situation when Pridnestrovien exporters suffer considerable losses from Chisinau's sanctions. In the words of the PMR's Deputy Head, certain preconditions have recently appeared for a partial solution of this problem: Chisinau issued a statement about adoption of the Resolution of the Government of the RM that should facilitate the movement of Transdniestrian cargoes. However, as Alexander Malyarchuk noted, in reality the Pridnestrovien side hasn't felt any moves on the part of Moldova so far.
Speaking about prospects for a dialogue between Tiraspol and Chisinau, the Head of the department of the Denmark's MFA for EU-Russia neighbourhood policy, Ruben Madsen, expressed his hope for the five plus two negotiations to be resumed at the official level.
Also, the Danish diplomat informed the Transdniestrian side about the wish of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Lene Espersen, to meet with the Head of the PMR's MFA, Vladimir Yastrebchak. In response to this initiative, Alexander Malyarchuk assured Pridnestrovie is open for a dialogue with all countries concerned.
