Moscow and Berlin converge in asking Chisinau to give up the 2005 law on Transnistria conflict-resolution principles, renounce the unitary character of the state, and (backstage) to move toward federalizing Moldova (EDM, June 6, 8). Chisinau may well face such demands on June 21 in... MORE

(Part Two) In the context of Russo-German special relations, the German government proposes to restart international negotiations on the Transnistria conflict from a modified basis, one largely favorable to Russian interests. On this issue, Germany’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs implements a policy that originates in... MORE

(Part One) International negotiations on the Transnistria conflict are set to resume on June 21, for the first time since 2006, in the 5+2 format (Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, the United States, European Union, Chisinau, and Tiraspol). Russia, which had authorized Tiraspol to cause the five-year... MORE

Expectations raised by Russia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Sergei Lavrov, about re-starting negotiations to resolve the Transnistria conflict, have shattered on both counts: process and substance. Transnistria’s Moscow-installed authorities have defiantly contradicted Lavrov, with apparent impunity. Moscow has quickly backtracked, and Tiraspol has aborted the attempt... MORE

On March 29 in Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with his Moldovan counterpart, Iurie Leanca, on resuming and advancing a resolution of the Transnistria conflict (Moldpres, March 30; Nezavisimaya Gazeta, March 31). European Union and Moldovan officials note some positive Russian signals in... MORE

The United States has taken a back seat to the European Union regarding Moldova since the final years of the Bush administration. This stance became inevitable due to US over commitments in debilitating conflicts on one hand, and the EU's own initiatives in its immediate... MORE

US Vice-President, Joseph Biden, paid a seven-hour flag-showing visit to Chisinau on March 11, on his return trip from Moscow to Washington. With this, Biden became the highest-ranking US official ever to visit Moldova during 20 years of the country's independence. Previous high-level visitors were... MORE

Moscow and Tiraspol seem intent on stonewalling the negotiations on the Transnistria conflict with Moldova indefinitely, and are marshalling arguments to justify the obstruction. For the most part, Tiraspol is fronting for Moscow in airing these arguments publicly. They are reaching ten years and more... MORE

The establishment of the European Union’s External Action Service, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) chairmanship by Lithuania, and the electoral success of Moldova’s pro-European governing coalition, are cumulatively energizing international efforts to unblock the negotiations on the Transnistria conflict. These converging... MORE

The Russian government’s offer of cheap gas to Moldova, in return for military basing rights (“Cheap Gas for Basing Rights: Russia Offers Ukrainian-Type Deal to Moldova,” EDM, February 4) aims to pressure Moldova’s governing Alliance for European Integration (AEI). That government was confirmed in office... MORE