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Activity of the President on September 8–21, 2003

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President Voronin has invited the EU to get involved in the Transnistrian conflict resolution process

On 11–12 September 2003, the International Conference “Frozen Conflicts in Europe” was organised in Chisinau by the Moldovan Foreign Ministry within the programme of actions of the Moldovan Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. According to a statement made later by President Voronin, the conference was intended as “a strategic part of the efforts of the Moldovan authorities to internationalise the Transnistrian conflict” and solve it.

In his opening speech to the conference, President Voronin invited the European Union to get involved in the Transnistrian conflict resolution efforts and expressed his hope that this initiative will be supported both by the guarantor states and the Transnistrian side. It appears that an eventual EU involvement in the Transnistrian conflict resolution is one of three elements of the universal formula for solving frozen conflicts proposed by President Voronin to the conference: internationalisation of the efforts at resolving the conflict, isolation of the forces benefiting from the conflict, and democratisation of the societies in conflict.

The idea of an EU involvement in the resolution of the Transnistrian conflict was supported by a number of top Moldovan officials, including the Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicolae Dudau, the Minister of Reintegration Vasile Sova, the Deputy Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament Vadim Misin etc., and was commented upon by several foreign diplomats attending the conference.

Thus, Rudolf V. Perina, US State Department Special Envoy for Conflicts in Eurasia, confirmed the US support for an eventual involvement of the EU in the resolution of the Transnistrian conflict, to which Perina believed the EU could have an important contribution. On the other hand, Aleksandr Grishko, the Head of the Department for European Co-operation under the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that as long as the current format of negotiations is working well, it wouldn’t be the case to disturb its activity by talks about some issues of “procedure”, and that an eventual EU involvement in the Transnistrian conflict settlement should envision post-conflict economic rehabilitation.

During a press conference held at the end of the conference, the Moldovan Deputy Foreign Minister Ion Stavila warned that “it is premature to venture ourselves into a discussion on President Voronin initiative”, which is rather just an idea that has yet to be explored and discussed with all the stakeholders before it is made official.

Whatever the nature of President Voronin’s initiative, the message did reach Brussels and Javier Solana, the High Representative for the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy, called the Moldovan President on September 16 to assure him that the UE is willing and ready to support Moldova’s efforts at resolving the Transnistrian conflict, which is a common EU and Moldova objective.

Meanwhile, the news portal European Information System reported, with reference to diplomatic sources, that the prospect of an EU peacekeeping operation in Transnistria is unlikely in the near future as a number of EU Member States believe that such operation can only be considered when a political agreement on the conflict is reached. Recognising the key role that Russia is playing in this issue, the European diplomats regard with much prudence the initiative of the Moldovan Presidency to solve the conflict through the federalisation of Moldova and the institution of a new constitutional regime.

Gagauz Yeri has to become a subject of the future federation, says President Voronin

During a meeting that President Voronin had with members of the People’s Assembly (the Gagauz legislative body) on 17 September, he declared that while drafting the new Constitution, the Joint Constitutional Commission “should grant the Gagauz Autonomous Entity a place to fit its status” and that in the future asymmetrical federation “Gagauz Yeri should be, along with Transnistria, a subject thereof”, a status which, Voronin said, is de facto recognised in the Moldovan Constitution.

Earlier in the week, a group of Gagauz deputies met in Tiraspol with members of the Transnistrian Supreme Soviet (legislative body) to discuss the possibility of participation of the Gagauz deputies in the activity of the Constitutional Commission.

A month ago, 18 out of the 29 Gagauz deputies signed a statement in which they declared their discontent at the fact that the Gagauz Autonomy was excluded from the talks on the future federation.

We would like to remind that last summer the Moldovan Parliament introduced a special article in the Moldovan Constitution which consecrated the status of Gagauz Yeri and granted it additional powers, including the right to initiate legislation along with the Moldovan Parliament, President and Government.

CIS Summit in Ialta

President Voronin attended the Summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on 18–19 September in Ialta, where he met with his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts. During the meeting with the President of Ukraine Leonid Kucima, the two presidents exchanged views on the issues included in the agenda of the Summit, and discussed bilateral co-operation, including the issue of Moldovan properties on Ukrainian territory. The two presidents also touched upon the Transnistrian issue and President Kucima reaffirmed Ukraine’s support for a political resolution to the conflict to safeguard the territorial integrity of Moldova.

The Transnistrian issue was also addressed during the meeting between the Moldovan and the Russian presidents, who committed to “breathe new life” into the conflict resolution process. The two also discussed issues related to the political and economic co-operation between Moldova and Russia.

The CIS Summit in Ialta resulted in the signature of a number of documents of economic nature, including a joint statements of the heads of states setting the priority task of the CIS to institute a free trade area that will later evolve into a single economic area.

At the same time, at the end of the Ialta Summit, President Voronin showed sceptical with regard to the prospects of the CIS, and stated that from now on Moldova would take firmer action towards the European Union. “What happened [in Ialta] does not inspire much optimism. I have always said that Moldova will not become the tomb of the CIS, however, after what happened in Ialta, the prospects of the CIS are clear. The ideas about a possible modernisation of the Commonwealth have been abandoned for good,” said the Moldovan President.

August 18 – September 7, 2003 September 22 – October 5, 2003