CHISINAU (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th July, 2023) The conflict in breakaway Transnistria will not become an obstacle for Moldova's accession to the European Union, Moldovan Parliament President Igor Grosu said on Wednesday.
"A quick solution to the Transnistrian conflict now is impossible ... The integration of the Transnistrian region into Moldova will last a long time and is not an obstacle to the process of the country's accession to the EU," Grosu was quoted as saying by the Moldova 1 broadcaster at a press conference in Brussels.
He also noted that Moldova's integration with the EU and the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict are being discussed within the framework of two separate initiatives.
"These are two different processes that have different speeds," added Grosu.
In March 2022, Moldova submitted a membership application to the EU, with President Maia Sandu urging Brussels to expedite the process and citing the insecurity associated with the Russian special operation in Ukraine, which started the month prior. In June 2022, the top-level EU summit granted Moldova as well as Ukraine candidate status. In October 2022, the European Commission laid down nine conditions that Moldova has to meet for full membership.
In 1992, Transnistria, 60% of whose population are Russian or Ukrainian, became a territory virtually outside the control of Chisinau. Chisinau and Tiraspol have been trying to negotiate a political settlement through a 5+2 format involving Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE as mediators, as well as the EU and the US as observers. An international peacekeeping contingent has been deployed to Transnistria.
Ukraine pulled its troops out of the Transnistrian contingent after the start of hostilities, while the 5+2 format was halted due to the conflict between two of its mediators.
