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Roman Konoplev, Tiraspol-based journalist, analyzes the future of his country and its relations with Moldova

TIRASPOL (Regnum) - After nearly a year of living in Sweden and Norway, political journalist and author Roman Konoplev returned to Tiraspol on the eve of the 17 September independence referendum, ready to report on the developments in the new country's quest for internationally recognized independent statehood and the efforts of neighboring Moldova to prevent that from happening.

" - All the sides should seek a compromise," urges Konoplev. "All the sides will have to change their behavior. We will have to work out forms of civilized relations," says Konoplev, adding that being a neighbor to the European Union could have a healthy effect on Pridnestrovie, also known as Transdnestr.

In this interview with Regnum News Agency, Konoplev gives us his take on best way forward for the country which he calls home. He sees a democratic future ahead, with less conflict and less corruption, and explains that the people living in the region want elementary things: They all just want to live well. Sooner or later, all the sides will have to accept the wish of their people to compromise.

The parties to the Transdnestr peace process – Transdnestr, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE, the US and the EU – recently had meetings in Odessa. What do you think about their results?

In reality, these were pre-consultations for resuming the talks between Moldova and Transdnestr. The sides met with their “seconds” but not with each other. So, it means there were no talks. All that is happening between the conflicting sides is important. Moldova is warring with Transdnestr with ultra-modern arms at all fronts – in economy, politics and information. True, there are no military actions, but Moldova is causing a huge damage to Transdnestr’s economy, and peaceful Transdnestr residents are suffering from it. The fact of blockade is evident. Moldova and its partners from the anti-Transdnestr coalition are making active economic and foreign political efforts to destroy our republic.

A so-called monitoring group is deployed along the Ukrainian-Transdnestr border. In this light, all these “meetings” in Odessa look like elementary propaganda tricks, an attempt to “crush” the disobedient, to make the Trandnestrians bow. The Moldovan leaders might as well continue meeting with their allies in Chisinau — without organizing this propaganda extravaganza in Odessa and making a barn-burner of it.

Moldova has some “national interests” formed by its present leaders and having no single common ground with the interests of the Transdnestr people. Their goal is to destroy our republic. Today, Transdnestr and Moldova have absolutely no cooperation even in the least political spheres, like basic law enforcement. This means that a murderer, rapist or pimp can hide from Transdnestr justice simply by going to Moldova.

The change of host countries and cities for this kind of a “consultation” charade will change nothing. The key negotiator from the Moldovan side, Reintegration Minister Vasili Sova has been and is against Transdnestr. His work is to give lessons of hatred for Transdnestr. Meanwhile, Moldova is changing. Moldova is disappearing. Every day tens of thousands of Moldovans obtain Romanian passports. The press in both Romania and Moldova is actively discussing Bessarabia’s reunification with its motherland, Romania. Today, the only stumbling stone is the administration of President Voronin. There can be no talks, in principle – Moldova is not an adequate party in the negotiating process. In fact, it is just a fragment of the broken “post-Moldovan space,” and Transdnestr is also a fragment of it. The present Chisinau administration is reaching for Transdnestr exclusively for economic reasons. Reunification with Romania will cost a fortune, so what the anti-Transdnestr bloc wants is to get control of our industry. Without it, Bessarabia will be too big a burden for Romania.

Settlement plans are discussed separately with Moldova and Transdnestr. How effective is this form of negotiating process?

This is not a negotiating process. The Moldovan side does not need any negotiations. Such consultations do not require the presence of the real conflicting parties in one and the same place. They might as well be held separately in Chisinau and Tiraspol. It is like the proverb says: “The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.” That is, the sides consult for years separately with Transdnestr and Moldova, but when there is no understanding on such obvious positions as the economic blockade of Transdnestr, when there is an evident attempt at physical annihilation of our state, any deeper discussion has no prospect.

Whatever the sides discuss, their basic positions will remain unchanged. Sova’s position is quite tough – in his eyes, there is no such state as Transdnestr. His speeches serve the interests of the Moldovan president and the business of his family. They need the Transdnestr property. They need no talks with the legitimately elected authorities of Transdnestr.

You have said that Moldova is moving towards joining Romania. Can Moldova’s geo-policy change if its leadership is changed?

Very soon, more than 50% of Moldovans will have Romanian citizenship. This alone is an absolutely inevitable factor that will determine the country’s future for many decades ahead. Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin is well aware of it and is trying to use various administrative measures to prevent emigration. If the Voronin clan continues resisting Moldova’s integration with Romania, Moldova may be punished. The people of Moldova, ethnic Romanians, want to live in peace with Europe, to go to work to Europe and to send their children to study there: nobody wants to live in a feudal country. That’s why I am sure that Moldova’s future belongs to unionist, pro-European forces and democratic politicians, irrespective of their relations with Russia. Just like here, people want to have a worthy life, they want to work. They don’t need Voronin’s yoke. They are tired of corruption. Besides, many of them have relatives in the rest of Europe: they visit them and see with their own eyes the difference in living standard and human rights protection. And they treat Voronin appropriately. Voronin is a politician of the past, his time has come and gone.

Why was Ukraine so anxious to organize these consultations and was, in fact, the initiator of their conduct in Odessa?

Ukraine has lost the initiative in the Transdnestr peace process. In the last one to two years, Ukraine wasted the political trumps that the Yushchenko administration could have enjoyed if they had just neutrally supported the talks. Unfortunately, they chose a different policy – in one instance, the Ukrainian leadership even renounced their own national interests, the interests of the Ukrainian society and business.

Perhaps, today Ukraine’s involvement in the process is becoming topical because Yushchenko needs new trumps in his fight with the internal political opponents. Yushchenko has serious problems with his popularity rating. All that is left from his initiatives is the recollections of some “Yushchenko plan” — everybody has long forgotten what it was about, but many remember that it recognized the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica as an standalone entity. The rest is not important. Perhaps, Ukraine will some day again be able to bring something to the table. We in Tiraspol still hope for a sense of real-politik from Kiev.

After the consultations Ukraine’s special representative for the Transdnestr conflict Andrey Veselovsky said he was not authorized to make Ukraine’s position known before his late Oct visit to Moscow. And immediately news agencies quoted EU High Representative for Common External and Security Policy Javier Solana as saying that Ukraine’s position on the Transdnestr peace process will be a test of the country’s ability to integrate with Europe…

Lack of position is also a position. And Transdnestr has noted Ukraine’s position. Transdnestr also has partners. Russia will certainly use its levers to influence Ukraine as a GUAM member and, likewise, to exert economic and political pressure on Moldova so as to make things easier for the Transdniestrians. In fact, a bit of clearheaded guidance by Russia is Ukraine's only hope against the suicidal course followed by Chisinau.

During the last meeting of the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly, Moldova – just like the other member states – refused to support Georgia in its conflict with Russia. Why did it do it?

I think that, just maybe, some in the Moldovan elite are returning to its initial state, i.e. to the state of a person having, at least, some basic common sense out of necessity. All of Moldova knows what is going on in their wine making industry and agriculture – nobody needs their exports anymore. They all know what is happening to their financial system, with their population – the emigration.

Experts say that the new customs regime on the Ukrainian-Transdnestr border, which has led to the economic blockade of Transdnestr, was the result of the involvement of the US and EU in the Transdnestr peace process. What do you think about the role of the US, EU and OSCE in the negotiating process?

Even if the US, EU and OSCE were not in the process, and the talks were held exclusively between Moldova and Transdnestr, the Moldovan leaders would, nevertheless, consult the US, EU and OSCE without asking for anybody’s permission. Their formal involvement is just an ordinary psychological pressure, and we should pay no special attention to it. Now that Europe itself is facing some quite unpleasant events, this "holier-than-thou" morality play and finger-wagging begins to look a bit over the top.

Some Russian political experts say that, unless Transdnestr consults Ukraine’s interests, it has absolutely no political chances. How important is Ukraine’s opinion really, if there is a clear position of Russia?

All the sides should seek a compromise. What we see today is a war, and Transdnestr is a party to this war. Sooner or later, all the sides will have to change their behavior – sooner or later, somebody will put an end to this war. It doesn’t matter how much time it will take Chisinau to get wiser and to solve all problems. We will have to work out forms of civilized relations even if, one day, we find out that we are neighbor to EU states. There is nothing bad in that, after all – this may have quite a healthy effect on Transdnestr. Perhaps, Ukraine will also get closer to Europe. Perhaps, they will reduce their corruption, particularly, in the customs service and the interior ministry.

All the sides, all the people living in the region want some basic things – to cross borders without problems with customs officers – without being robbed by them. If the only way to this end is Ukraine’s cooperation with Europe — why not? Transdnestrians, Moldovans, Ukrainians, Romanians, they all want to live well. To cross the border without standing in queues for hours. Sooner or later, all the sides will have to accept the wish of their people to come to a compromise. Transdnestr will be internationally recognized and will probably have a democratic Romania developing next to it. A Romania without chauvinists, mafia and avengers for the defeat in the 1992 war over Transdnestr.