Russia and Pridnestrovie need to stand up to all difficulties as the CIS committee of the Russian State Duma will do its best to help Pridnestrovie under current circumstances in the area of finance, citizenship and legal status debates. However, Moscow has made a number of mistakes, having long been counting on Moldovan presidents. This was said by Russian MP Konstantin Zatulin during the international roundtable conference "The political and legal grounds for international recognition of Pridnestrovie", which was held in Moscow on 21 November.
According to him, it was difficult to imagine today a worthy agreement between Pridnestrovie and Moldova which would restore some form of territorial integrity of the former Moldavian SSR. In the meantime, Zatulin said that Russia was gradually losing a fascination with Moldovan President Igor Dodon, who followed the same approach towards Pridnestrovie as his political opponents and predecessors.
"Unfortunately, as we know, the Moldovan president proceeds from the absolutely same approach to Prdnestrovie as demonstrated by his political opponents and predecessors, former Moldovan presidents," noted Zatulin.
"That is, first we discussed the federalization of Moldova, then downgraded to an autonomy, and now we are talking about a territory with a special status. As far as I know, Pridnestrovie has already found an analogy to this status — Indian reservations are also territories. Based on this, it is difficult to imagine a worthy agreement between Pridnestrovie and Moldova, which would restore some form of territorial integrity of the former Moldavian SSR," explained Zatulin.
Zatulin notes that every time a new president was elected in Moldova, Russia hoped "they were the people capable of being negotiated with, capable of taking account of the circumstances of the conflict and of paving the way for an agreement with Pridnestrovie."
"This agreement was constantly looming but has never been implemented," the MP recalls.
He says this is due to a number of circumstances: the "evil will" of a number of western countries and Romania, as well as domestic factors in Moldova and even Russia's own mistakes.
The Russian politician regrets that Russia has long ignored Moldova's position which "became tougher year after year under the influence of western sponsors." "The most remarkable bell", according to the MP, rang when Pridnestrovie's foreign trade participants were forced to re-register under Moldovan law.
"That's when we had to sound the alarm!" said Zatulin.
"We have another story today, unfortunately. We are under the fascination of Igor Dodon, though it is gradually passing, who never fails to show pro-Russian sympathies... As the Slavic people say, a gentle calf sucks two cows," says Zatulin.
He is confident that Pridnestrovie has a moral right to self-determination as the country has suffered and defended its decision in contrast to Catalonia, whose leaders "first pushed people to protests and then fled to Brussels."
"If you are greedy, rich and cowardly, then your desires will never come true... But in the case of the conflicts in the former Soviet republics — Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Karabakh, Pridnestrrovie and, by the way, about Crimea, the right to self-determination of these territories and the population living there is natural, and this requirement has remained the same for decades," says the MP.
According to him, it may seem today that the right to self-determination is gone and is not realisable. It is not true, Zatulin believes.
"The right to self-determination was, is and will be. But whether this right is applicable or not depends on the particular circumstances under which this right is sought to be realised," he explains.
"We all need to stand up to difficulties; I don't mean only Pridnestrovie but Russia as a whole... Russia has shown it wants to be self-reliant. This caused a terrible surprise in the United States, which loved us because we were weak, if loved at all. But since we stated we haв our own opinion, they became very upset as they thought we had to admit we'd lost," says Zatulin.
"Our CIS committee works today to assist Pridnestrovie under current circumstances in the areas of finance, citizenship, legal status debates," concludes Zatulin.
