Ukraine’s Victory, Decisive for the Transnistrian Conflict? See Serebrian’s perspective

The reintegration of the Transnistrian region largely depends on Ukraine’s victory in the war against the Russian Federation and the process of Moldova’s integration into the European Union. This opinion was expressed by the Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration, Oleg Serebrian, during the Monday, January 22 edition of the “Новая неделя” (New Week) show on TV8.

“Without Ukraine’s victory in the war, it is futile to talk about resolving the Transnistrian conflict. I’m not saying that Ukraine’s victory will guarantee ‘100% smooth sailing,’ as desired in Chișinău. Everything depends not only on this; such a viewpoint is incorrect. However, much depends on two factors.

The first, the most significant factor, is Ukraine’s victory in the war. The second factor is the European integration process of the Republic of Moldova. The pace and speed of this process are crucial. If Moldova succeeds, it will contribute to solving the Transnistrian issue. But if, for example, a major strategic problem arises in Ukraine, it will be a problem not only for Ukraine and Moldova but for the entire Europe. And for us, primarily, because we are nearby. The issues of Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Crimea, all are interconnected. It’s a package of the same problem,” stated Oleg Serebrian.

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As over the course of more than 30 years of negotiations, Chișinău and Tiraspol have never signed a document determining the reunification of Moldova as the goal of negotiations, separatists interpret each step taken as a move towards the independence of the region.

“The main problem of our negotiation process since 1992 is that Chișinău believes it is negotiating a process for the reintegration of the country, while in Tiraspol, they believe that the same negotiation process leads to the independence of Transnistria. This is strange. How can there be a completely opposite interpretation of the same thing? We have had proposals to discuss the purpose of our negotiation process because it is quite strange. So far, we don’t have a joint statement about what we aim for in this negotiation process. We need to agree on the goal first. Let’s first agree, let it be the starting point about what we strive for, the reintegration of the Republic of Moldova,” mentioned Serebrian.