A Three-stepped Proposal

An agreement on Romania’s practical participation in settling the Transnistrian conflict could be reached in the shortest time, Romanian mass media informs. At the end of the SEECP (South-East European Cooperation Process) Summit, which took place in Bucharest, Romania's president presented a three-stepped approach to settle the Transnistrian conflict, backing the withdrawal of the Russian army from Moldova, "which represents the umbrella of an illegal regime", and the enforcement of Moldova-Ukraine border security. The head of Romanian state told a press conference organized at the end of the summit that European solutions and not "imitations" are necessary in order to settle the Transnistrian dispute. Basescu expressed his disagreement over the proposal launched by Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko at the GUUAM Summit, which backs the necessity of organizing elections in the supreme soviet of Transnistria.

Basescu considers that elections to find an interlocutor to the Republic of Moldova cannot be organized; this region must remain free but brought under Chisinau’s political authority. Traian Basescu presented a three-stepped proposal of settling this conflict. He mentioned that "the essential step" is the evacuation of the foreign troops from the territory of the Republic of Moldova, "troops that constitute the umbrella of an illegitimate regime". The second step concerns the enforcement of border security. If these steps are accomplished, "I assure you that Smirnov’s group will stay not more than a month," said Basescu. Romanian president mentioned that he supported and will support this point of view in all the discussions, inclusively in those with the US President George W. Bush and with the leaders of the European Union. Basescu added that he will not change these proposals as it would mean the violation of the European principles. In his turn, Moldova's President Vladimir Voronin, mentioned answering journalists’ questions that the evacuation of the Russian army, democratization of the Transnistrian region and elimination of the black administrative whole from the region dominated by corruption and mafia are absolutely necessary in order to settle the Transnistrian conflict. Moldovan president stated that Romania’s participation in the settlement of this conflict can be achieved through offering a support backed at international and European level.