Russian diplomats: Moldavian president chose a straight confrontation with Moscow and he's an obstacle to regulating the conflict in Transnistria

Russia is not expecting progress after the „5+2” meeting to solve the Transnistrian conflict that begins on Wednesday in Vienna. Russian deputies consulted by Kommersant consider that the temporary president of the Republic of Moldova, Mihai Ghimpu, a real obstacle to progress. According to them, Ghimpu’s actions or words are allegedly delaying the regulation process.

„For now, we should not be expecting progress”, Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry attaché for CSI Serghei Gubarev said.

One of the reasons is that Chisinau (Moldova’s capital) and Tiraspol (Transnistria’s main city) [Transnistria is not recognised as a state, NB]. Moldavians have as starting point the 2005 law, which mentions a special status for the region of Transnistria within Moldova. On the orther hand, the authorities of the separatist region point out at the result of the 2006 referendum, when most residents from the region left of river Nistru were allegedly in favour of the independence of the unrecognised republic. This was followed by the accession to the Russian Federation.

The Moldovan temporary president Mihai Ghimpu’s attitude plays an important role, who chose a direct confrontation with Russia, by issuing a presidential decree on „The day of Soviet Occupation”. According to Gubarev, Ghimpu’s behaviour had an immediate impact on Moldova’s economic relationships with Moscow, with the Russians stopping the access of Moldavian wines from the market.

„All these elements give Transnistrian politicians sufficient reasons for very loud statements addressing the need to have the republic’s independence recognised”, analyst Aleksei Ostrovski believes.