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Tiraspol, shown, is the capital of PMR which Moldova for the past 17 years has refused to recognize as independent. (File photo)

ODESSA (Tiraspol Times) - A multilateral conference held Friday brought political leaders from Moldova and Transdniester face to face for a discussion of ways that conflict settlement talks can be moved forward. The international forum "The Future of Transnistria" is planned as a regularly scheduled repeating event, bringing together representatives from Moldova, Pridnestrovie, Russia, Ukraine and the EU. The organizers used the title "first conference" because the intention is to make the forum a permanent, ongoing event.

Political figures from both sides of the Dniester river sat down for a powwow to discuss what's best: Keeping the conflict frozen, agreeing to let each population choose their own future, or find a way for the two to be together inside a common, shared state.

Pridnestrovie was represented with members of parliament and party leaders, including Oleg Smirnov, the son of PMR President Igor Smirnov and a political figure in his own right. Oleg Smirnov, who is a minority member of the small pro-Smirnov faction of Pridnestrovie's parliament, is also the leader of the Patriotic Party of Pridnestrovie; PPP.

Smirnov debated the social and political future of the two sides with Moldovan representatives like Victor Josu, deputy editor-in-chief of Moldovan newspaper Moldavskiye Vedomosti and a former political advisor to Moldova's President.

Another anti-independence panelist was Moldova's Vitalie Andriescu, a Chisinau-based political analyst.

A Moldovan political analyst, Vitalie Andriescu, wants a common state made up of PMR and Moldova. For that, he says that the two sides must stop treating each other as the enemy.

In his speech to the forum, Andriescu advocated a union of Moldova and Pridnestrovie within a single, common state, but also explained that for that to ever happen it will be necessary that Moldova first stop treating Pridnestrovie as an enemy. Otherwise there is no hope of reaching an understanding between Moldova and Pridnestrovie as long as the two sides maintain their current antagonistic positions, believes Andriescu.

" - This requires Moldova and Transnistria to first bury the hatchet and start moving towards each other," he said.

Civilized velvet-divorce?

The conference made it clear that there is an enormous distance between how each side sees itself and its position, and the vision that either side has for the future of Pridnestrovie.

Moldova wants to force Pridnestrovie to integrate with Moldova, disregarding the will of the local population which doesn't want this. Under the mantra of unification, Moldova refuses to take the will of the people of Pridnestrovie into account.

In Pridnestrovie, all talk of unification is off the table and the discussion focuses on the best way to organize a peaceful, civilized divorce which will, says Tiraspol, bring benefits to both sides. An example which is often held up as a role model to follow is the orderly "velvet divorce" which turned the previously Communist Czechoslovakia into two separate states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

In his presentation, Vitalie Andriescu advocated a larger involvement by both Russia and Ukraine in conflict settlement and status negotiations. He also wanted the European Union to play a role which will "enable us to succesfully implement fundamental European values, develop friendly relations and a strategic partnership with Russia, and develop mutually beneficial partnerships with Ukraine," he said.

" - There can be no doubts that Russia will be an important loyal friend and reliable helper in the case," explained Andriescu. "A friendly, neighboring Ukraine should also not be left out. And another active participant in the process will be the European Union. "

Andriescu specifically left out any mention of the Organization for Security and Co-operation, OSCE, which since the 1993 opening of its Moldova office has been headed permanently by Americans. He also left out the United States itself. There was a general consensus among conference participants that the actions of the United States - and the U.S.-led OSCE mission - are now doing more harm than good in Moldova and that its approach.

" - It might help if they would just remember the 'Do no harm' rule. Or, better still, close up and go home," said a Ukrainian who was consulted by phone after the conference.

Whereas the European Union is still a credible partner for creative, constructive change, many at the conference felt that the same could not be said for the United States. Its increasingly anti-Russian position, right in Russia's near abroad, is hurting - not helping - the moves towards advances in peaceful conflict settlement.

" - Like it or not, Transnistria has an undeniable element of Russian culture. You can't change that, so it is best to just deal with it and accept it. This dates back to its peculiar history, which is very different from Moldova's history of course: For hundreds of years, it has been Russian land," says Bogdan Diordiev, a political organizer with good contacts in both communities. "Compare that with the almost non-existent ties to Moldova and Romania. Has Transnistria ever been part of Moldova? Never. Has it ever been part of Romania? Well, it was occupied for three or four years in World War II, but that was against their will. It isn't right to occupy them again, and force them to be part of a country that they don't want to live in, against their will."

Larger role for independent media

A solution that will allow both sides to live together in peace requires the participation of civil society and a larger role for independent media, the conference found.

" - We need to start from the premise," Moldova's former presidential advisor Victor Josu said, "that not everything is moving in the right direction inside Moldova. This is not merely a matter of the many mistakes and serious miscalculations in the domestic and foreign policies of Moldova's ruling Communist Party. Because if we simply remove the Communists from government and replace them with one of the other existing Moldovan parties, then this change - in itself - will not result in any dramatic changes for the better. Instead, the problem is much deeper and larger. It testifies to a a deep stagnation of social and political life in the country and a total lack of good ideas in the entire Moldovan political class."

" - It isn't worth the effort to try to artificially link these two, in general, sick political organisms and expect that such a marriage would produce a viable offspring," said Victor Josu. "This is impossible."

According to a report of the conference, in Moldova today there are many - especially among the leadership - who are not entirely unhappy with the current status quo. Andriescu says that "I am not even sure that opposition parties want to seriously change anything" and adds that even Pridnestrovie's political leaders are also concerned about losing their positions and becoming marginalized.

" - As things stand today, the Transnistrians fear - and not without reason - that they can not be equal partners in a common creative approach to problem solving."

See also:
» Vitalie Andriescu: "Settlement talks should be restarted with a fresh slate" [1]
» Why not a referendum to decide the issue? [2]