Maia Sandu on Transnistrian Conflict: The Problem will not be Solved Today

The Transnistrian problem remains unresolved. Prime Minister Maia Sandu, in an interview with Europa Libera, said that in the absence of consensus in the parliamentary majority, no solution could be found to resolve the conflict. “If you have seen, this is not part of the agreement. The only thing written there is the withdrawal of troops from the territory of the Republic of Moldova and the elimination of ammunition. In addition, there is no such agreement, and if there is no such agreement, then the problem cannot be resolved. We said from the very beginning that under current conditions we can fight corruption schemes, therefore we canceled the duty-free regime established by the Government of Filip in the Transnistrian region,” said Maia Sandu, noi.md reports referring to agora.md The head of the Cabinet added that negotiations are underway with the Ukrainian government on the creation of several joint checkpoints on the border between Ukraine and Transnistria: “Before discussing any further steps, we need to clarify the ultimate goal. And when it becomes clear to everyone that the decision is only within the constitutional borders of the Republic of Moldova, we can discuss this more specifically. But I say it again: there are no internal or external conditions for the moment. Currently, we are focusing on reducing smuggling and eliminating corruption schemes in this zone.” The Prime Minister noted that at present there are internal problems in the country, and their solution is of paramount importance. “I think that we have very serious internal problems that we must solve, and of course, we have a dialogue with representatives of parliament, colleagues from the government, representatives of civil society, and we are talking about a possible political solution, but this topic will not be solved today or tomorrow,” said Sandu. A new round of negotiations on the Transnistrian settlement in the 5+2 format is being held in Bratislava on October 9 and 10. The meeting to examine the stage of implementation of confidence-building measures agreed upon in the Berlin Plus package and analyze new priorities for additional confidence-building measures. Point