The small hall of the Palace of Republic held the extended reporting meeting of the Pridnestrovian Ministry of the Foreign Affairs Collegium; it was dedicated to summing up the work of the department in 2019. The event was attended by President of the PMR Vadim Krasnoselsky, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the PMR, Alexander Korshunov, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the PMR, Stanislav Kasap, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Moldova Oleg Vasnetsov, Plenipotentiary Representative of the Republic of Abkhazia in Pridnestrovie Alexander Vataman, heads of executive and judicial authorities and representatives of public organizations.
Speaking with the report, Vitaly Ignatiev noted that the year 2019 was difficult and eventful for the Pridnestrovian state due to a special set of risks, threats and tests for the Pridnestrovian diplomacy and for the Republic as a whole. “In these unstable conditions, the foreign policy of Pridnestrovie, on the contrary, had a pronounced systemic and consistent character, making it possible to consider Pridnestrovie as a reliable international partner and an active participant in regional processes,” the diplomat emphasized.
As to the negotiation process, Pridnestrovian Foreign Minister noted that in 2019 Moldova failed to fully implement the package of previously reached agreements known as “Berlin +”. “Last year showed that Chisinau has deliberately chosen the tactics of obstructing dialogue using any excuse to evade the fulfillment of previous obligations. The destruction of the positive negotiation, well-established in 2017-2018 was performed by means of primitive methods and so, left no doubt among the international participants as to Moldova’s real attitude towards the search for compromise solutions,” the Minister said.
Vitaly Ignatiev said that immediately after the appointment of a new political representative from the Republic of Moldova in the summer of 2019, new problems in the relations began to arise between the parties and Pridnestrovie was under pressure in various directions. “Despite the populist declarations of the Moldovan authorities and promises to resolve all issues, the current situation in the negotiations continues to degrade. I emphasize that it is official Chisinau that bears full responsibility for eroding the negotiation structure and refusing to solve the complex of old problems,” the PMR Foreign Minister noted. According to him, under these conditions, Pridnestrovian diplomacy made efforts to maintain the negotiation process at all levels, regularly initiating working meetings and expert events holding.
The Minister focused on the fact that the Russian Federation remains key strategic partner of Pridnestrovie, providing broad social and humanitarian support. In the context of bilateral relations development, he highlighted the Official Representative Office of the PMR opening in Russia on January 22, 2019 which proves its effectiveness and relevance as a platform for dialogue with Russian partners and systematic work with compatriots.
Concluding his speech, Vitaly Ignatiev noted that within the past year Pridnestrovie has further strengthened its reputation as a responsible and adequate participant in international communication, whose feedback is respected. “This year, the Foreign Ministry will continue to work actively to ensure widespread international recognition conditions for the PMR, thus, preventing breaking or reducing the negotiation process and peacekeeping operation mechanisms functionality on the Dniester; and will continue to harmoniously and dynamically develop relations with the Russian Federation and other partners,” the Minister concluded.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia Oleg Vasnetsov congratulated the Pridnestrovian diplomats on their professional holiday, drawing attention to the "solid grounding" of bilateral relations, ties and contacts.
“Russia continues to be a reliable peace and security guarantor on the Dniester and a key participant in the Pridnestrovian settlement, while the 5 + 2 format is the only effective international platform for moving towards a resolution of the conflict. The main thing today is the embodiment of previously reached agreements on the entire spectrum of confidence-building measures, the continuation of the implementation of the “small steps” tactics. There are issues of freedom of movement, telecommunications, and other problems, the well-being and normal life of ordinary citizens depend on their solution,” the Russian diplomat said.
The Plenipotentiary Representative of the Republic of Abkhazia, Alexander Vataman, noted that in 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR provided all the necessary conditions to develop cooperation between Pridnestrovie and Apsny. He also read out the testimonial of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia Daur Kove to the Pridnestrovian diplomats.
Addressing the audience, PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky focused on some important aspects of the relationship between Pridnestrovie and Moldova. According to him, today Chisinau’s desire to destroy the “5 + 2” format is obvious this evidences the critical decrease in the dynamics of meetings between political representatives and relevant experts of the parties. The head of state expressed the opinion that this was done intentionally in order to disrupt the signing of the Bratislava Protocol, including on the sidelines of the Bavarian Conference on Confidence-Building Measures, where the representative of the Republic of Moldova introduced the previously not discussed issue of “tax systems harmonization”.
“This is all logic and all intent, i.e. the Moldovan side initially went to aggravate and to breakdown the agreements ... In this regard, it is astonishing when you hear the President of Moldova’s statements talking about the success of relations, about confidence-building measures, resolved issues. I officially declare that no issues have been resolved, trust is collapsing, and there is no success. Unresolved remain issues on telecommunications, banking problems, issues on opening accounts of our legal entities, criminal cases, well, nothing has been resolved. There is no success; there is degradation and failure. And the worst thing is that the trust previously built in 2017-2018 has collapsed. Without it, it is impossible to talk about further development of normal relationships. So who is someone trying to trick? Moldovan people? - well, please. The Pridnestrovian people? – well, we’ll not allow it happen,” Vadim Krasnoselsky said.
At the end of his speech, the Pridnestrovian President thanked the Russian Federation for support provided and also congratulated the Pridnestrovian and Russian diplomats on their professional holiday.
Photo: the PMR’s President website
