The Foreign Minister stated this in his presentation at the ceremonial meeting of the Foreign Ministry’s extended collegium dedicated to the Ministry’s 30th anniversary.
Vitaly Ignatiev said that for three decades of “tempering and developing together with the republic” in extreme conditions Pridnestrovian diplomacy has been consistently trying to defend the interests of the country on the world stage, paving the way to the main goal of the PMR’s broad international recognition.
In his presentation, Vitaly Ignatiev spoke about the main activities of the Foreign Ministry. Speaking about the negotiation process with the Republic of Moldova, he stressed that for all these years the Pridnestrovian diplomats have been resisting Moldova’s attempts to break the Pridnestrovian state by means of political pressure, economic suffocation and international isolation.
“The last few years have been an ordeal for the statehood of Pridnestrovie. During this period, the republic faced threats, challenges, degradation of negotiation mechanisms. Active work allowed us to hold our positions, to preserve the international negotiation process and the negotiation mechanism as such in order to minimize the negative impact of the sanctions imposed against Pridnestrovie,” stated the diplomat.
According to him, the actions of the Moldovan side, including the refusal to implement the Berlin Plus Package agreements, the organization of a banking and financial blockade, the disruption of the last meeting in the 5+2 format in Bratislava and others, show that “the inert ideology of a hybrid war against the PRT has again prevailed in Chisinau”.
“We can still see such aggressive, largely driven by despair, behavior of Chisinau today. The main reason is that after 30 years, Moldova has not found the political will to rationally use the numerous opportunities to find a reasonable compromise that takes into account the needs of both peoples and the interests of international partners, and has exhausted the means to convince Pridnestrovie. The Moldovan elites are afraid to face the truth, they avoid negotiations at the top level making various ridiculous excuses, but their destructive actions make more obvious the unbridgeable gap between our peoples with different identities and between our states,” the minister said.
Vitaly Ignatiev named interaction with the Russian Federation, the main strategic partner and guarantor of peace and security, one of the most important aspects of the Foreign Ministry’s work. In this context, he emphasized the role of the PMR’s Official Representation in Moscow, which contributes to expanding the range of Russian-Pridnestrovian contacts. The diplomat also mentioned cooperation with Russian human rights organizations in order to develop specific mechanisms for protecting the rights and interests of the Pridnestrovian population. He separately addressed consular services for Russian citizens in the PMR, noting that the Pridnestrovian side has sufficient capacity to help the Consular Office of the Russian Embassy to make its work more productive and convenient for citizens.
The minister also focused on the development of relations with the brotherly Caucasus republics Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Artsakh, Western countries and international organizations. He placed a special emphasis on the peacekeeping mission in the Dniester, its preservation being one of the priorities of the Pridnestrovian diplomacy. At the same time, he stressed the need to continue the peacekeeping operation even if “some of the participants suddenly decide that they no longer need it”.
Vitaly Ignatiev concluded that “despite the difficulties and trials which have befallen the republic, the ability of the Pridnestrovian foreign policy to put forward initiatives, to involve international partners in their elaboration, to reach agreements demonstrates the potential of the PMR to be an independent and responsible subject of international relations”.
“Pridnestrovie, amidst the blockade and restrictive measures, has remained committed to its principles, it has not changed its beliefs and values, that form the basis of the country’s negotiating position,” the diplomat summarized.
