Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin (left) with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Russia Reunites Moldova from NATO
Speakers of the Moldovan and Transdniestrian parliaments Marian Lupu and Evgeny Shevchuk met yesterday in Brussels as one more step closer for Tiraspol and Chisinau since Moscow organized a meeting between Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin and Transdniestrian President Igor Smirnov last month. Several days before their meeting, Voronin and Smirnov held their first conversation in seven year by telephone. Moscow is preparing to reunite the divided country with the breakaway republic of Transdniestria. If it succeeds, it will show the world that not joining NATO is the direct course to territorial integrity.
The parliamentary speakers expressed their support for a settlement within the “5 + 2” format, that is, Moldova and Transdniestria and Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE and observers from the European Union and United States. Russia, nonetheless, is claiming a special role in the reunification process. Moscow is taking the process very seriously as a demonstration of its peacemaking skills, especially in contrast to the disputed settlement in Kosovo. “We see our historical mission in the unification of Moldova,” head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s CIS department Nikolay Fomin told Kommersant. “That is our unalterable position.” A source in the presidential administration told Kommersant that Voronin and Smirnov will fly to Moscow to shake hands in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minster Vladimir Putin. Smirnov recently visited Moscow and was received at the Foreign Ministry and Security Council. Voronin will have a chance to discuss the Transdniestria question with Russian leaders at the CIS summit in St. Petersburg at the beginning of next month.
Russia’s role is far from unselfish. Moscow expects Chisinau to reinforce its neutrality. Neutrality is written into the Moldovan Constitution, but Moscow wants a guarantee that Moldova will not join NATO. Moscow also wants Moldova to distance itself from the GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) organization, which is not friendly to Russia. Smirnov has almost completely given up his militant rhetoric regarding Moldova and demands that Transdniestria be recognized on the model of Kosovo after several conversations in the Russian Foreign Ministry and presidential administration. The 2005 Moldovan law “On the Basic Principles of the Status of Transdniestria,” passed without consulting the unrecognized republic, remains a bone of contention, however.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 16, 2008
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