Moldovan president at NATO summit: Transdnestr issue hinders Moldova from “focusing upon its European aspirations”

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Solution of the Transdnestr issue must be based upon demilitarization and prohibition of foreign military presence in the Moldovan territory, as well as upon granting a fair status to the Transdnestr territory in the framework of a sovereign, inseparable and integral Moldova, the press office of the Moldovan president quotes President Vladimir Voronin as saying at the NATO summit in Bucharest, reports a REGNUM correspondent.

According to Voronin, Chisinau was doing the utmost to draw attention of the international community to the uncertainty of the situation in Transdnestr that has been a zone of instability for 16 years undermining the regional security. “My country still remains the only nation in Eastern Europe divided politically and in terms of territory, where over half a million Moldovan citizens are hostages to a separatist regime. The Transdnestr conflict, which so far presents a potential of instability not only for the territory of the Republic of Moldova, but for the area as a whole, is still unresolved,” the Moldovan leader said.

According to the president of Moldova, obstacles are evident that the frozen conflict poses for Moldova’s modernization, as well as clear is its connection with such vital issues of the international agenda like the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, NATO enlargement, the antimissile shield in Europe and the Kosovo precedent.

Vladimir Voronin noted that 17 years after declaring independence, Moldova wanted support of the international community “in order to avoid destructive debate about our national identity and current borders and finally focus upon implementing its European aspirations.” Besides, Moldova hoped for a more possible involvement of all the parties in acknowledging the country’s constitutional neutrality and encouragement of its re-union on the basis of the international law.

According to the Moldovan leader, after reaching this aim, Moldova could become a sample of successful settlement of a frozen conflict, a nation of safety and prosperity that managed to use all tools it had to find a peaceful solution of the Transdnestr conflict while turning into a factor of regional stability from a user of security.