Tiraspol, December 5. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PMR Vitaly Ignatiev met with professors of the University of Tartu (Estonia) Eiki Berg and Kristel Vits. Scientists were interested in the issues of trade of Pridnestrovie with the European Union, certain aspects of relations with the Republic of Moldova, the geopolitical context of Moldo-Pridnestrovian conflict settlement process. Political and legal prerequisites for the formation of the Pridnestrovian state were also discussed within the interview, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.
Vitaly Ignatiev noted that since January 1, 2016, Pridnestrovie has been in a special trade mode with the European Union.
“We had separate negotiations on optimal export regime of our goods to the EU market since 2012 till 2015,” the Minister stressed. According to him, the Pridnestrovian side has not assumed any political obligations that Moldova and Ukraine did. “At the same time, we tried to make the mechanism of trade mutually beneficial,” the diplomat added.
The Foreign Minister also drew attention to the practice of the Moldovan side to use levers of economic pressure on the PMR.
“During 30 years, Moldova tried to destroy the Pridnestrovian economic potential to force us come to certain political decisions,” the Foreign Minister said. In this context, he spoke about the restrictions imposed since 2006 on the work of Pridnestrovian enterprises, about the pressure of Moldova through customs and border control on the border of Pridnestrovie with Ukraine.
It’s a huge concern: there are risks to block import into the Republic of a wide range of food products and goods, medicines included. We are negotiating for the past two years to prevent this problem. We believe, in this case we deal with political and economic elements pressure,” the diplomat said.
Speaking about the prospects of the settlement of the Moldo-Pridnestrovian conflict, Vitaly Ignatiev pointed out that «de facto vector of the settlement has already been developed»: within 30 years, Pridnestrovie showed itself as a real state.
“Therefore, I am sure that now it is necessary to create conditions for the settlement of this conflict, moving consistently from “simple-to-complex”, removing restrictions and blockade elements, solving problems in the interests of people” the Minister concluded.
