TIRASPOL, Dec 27 Foreign Minister of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Vitaly Ignatiev believes that Chisinau is destroying the foundations of the negotiation process on the Transnistrian settlement, the press service of the PMR Parliament reported.
According to the department, this is how Ignatiev commented on the adoption in the first reading by the Parliament of Moldova of a bill establishing criminal liability for separatism and the creation of anti-constitutional bodies.
«The Moldovan side continues to use methods of administrative and bureaucratic pressure. We see clear legal grounds for destroying all the foundations of the negotiation process between Moldova and the PMR. We see this as the main threat,» Ignatiev said on Tuesday at a meeting of the commission on foreign policy and international relations of the Supreme Council (Parliament) PMR.
According to him, the issue remains in law enforcement practice. «How will these articles be applied, how will they be used, and does the adoption of this bill, these changes to the Criminal Code mean a total and complete withdrawal of Moldova from the negotiation process with Pridnestrovie, a transition to some other form of relationship?» Ignatiev emphasized.
Transnistria, 60% of whose inhabitants are Russians and Ukrainians, sought secession from Moldova even before the collapse of the USSR, fearing that Moldova would join Romania on the wave of nationalism. In 1992, after a failed attempt by the Moldovan authorities to solve the problem by force, Transnistria became virtually a territory not controlled by Chisinau.
Chisinau and Tiraspol as parties to the conflict, Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE as mediators, the European Union and the United States as observers participate in the negotiations on the Transnistrian settlement in the «5+2» format.
The last round of negotiations took place in Bratislava on October 9 and 10, 2019. In February, Ukraine suspended the activities of military observers in the peacekeeping operation on the Dniester. OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said in Chisinau at the end of March that it is still difficult to discuss when and under what conditions the next meeting in the 5+2 format will take place.