"There is only one condition - Transdniestria (a self-proclaimed republic on the territory of Moldova) must be an integral part of the united Republic of Moldova," Mr. Voronin emphasized.
According to Mr. Voronin, the Transdniestrian problem may well be settled "in style".
"We must simply rein in those who are pursuing their vested interests in the region," Vladimir Voronin pointed out. He said that according to the information at his disposal, the people he referred to have been annually siphoning as much as $2 billion out of Transdniestria.
The Moldovan President also pointed out that "at the moment, it is impossible for us to revert to the Kozak memorandum". "We have irretrievably cooled off toward the idea of federalization, and return to the latter notion is impossible," he stressed.
"No matter what the current state of affairs in our relations with Russia may be, Russia will always be our strategic partner," Mr. Voronin said, pointing out that "this stems from the very nature of Moldovan people's mentality."
In the meantime, on Saturday, media published a letter by Valery Litskai, the Transdniestrian Republic's authorized representative for the Transdniestria settlement. The letter says that Tiraspol deems it impossible to conduct Moldovan parliamentary election on its territory.
The letter is Tiraspol's official reply to the Moldovan Central Election Commission's decree of February 4 prescribing establishment of polling stations in Transdniestria.
The letter points out that the Moldovan Central Election Commission's decree has not only advanced a priori unrealizable conditions but has also violated Moldova's own legislation regulating electoral procedure.
The letter views the Central Election Commission's decree as "another provocation on the part of the Moldovan leadership initiated to pursue goals having nothing in common with true concerns about the rights of Moldovan citizens."
