| Резюме: | NOBODY expects a quick fix to the 20-year conflict between the Moldovan authorities and the self-proclaimed regime in Transdniestria. But progress is inching forward, High-level talks reconvene on April 17-18 in Vienna, with a largely new line-up on both sides of the table. Both Moldova and the separatist entity have elected new presidents during the past four months. Russia and the OSCE (interview, in Romanian) have newly appointed representatives; the EU will also be replacing its envoy to the talks. Yevgeny Shevchuk, the new Transdniestrian leader has a strong mandate. He defeated the incumbent Igor Smirnov (a man once seen as the epitome of Transdniestrian politics) and the Kremlin-backed Anatoly Kaminsky in an election that by the standards of the region was fair and open. In an interview shortly after an opening bout of talks of the 5 + 2 (the parties to the conflict plus Romania, Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the OSCE) in Dublin last month, he said economic cooperation would be a priority. A meeting with the Moldovan prime minister Vlad Filat on March 30 in Odessa brought agreement on the reopening of rail services. In the run-up to the Vienna summit, Mr Shevchuk has made more proposals. (Moldova has a new president too, Nicolae Timofti, though he is unlikely to feature prominently in dealings with Transdniestria.) Also new at the table is is Mr Shevchuk's foreign minister Nina Shtansky. Aged 35, she is visibly different from the previous denizens of Transdniestrian officialdom. Also prominent is the rumbustious Dimitri Rogozin, the former Russian representative at NATO known for his forthright anti-Western views. Iulian Chifu, an advisor to the Romanian president, fears (link in Romanian) that Mr Rogozin's appointment signals geopolitical confrontation rather than economic cooperation. Nicu Popescu of the European Council for Foreign Relations thinks self-promotion rather than conflict resolution will be the hallmark of the Russian envoy's involvement. But William Hill, former head of the OSCE mission to Moldova, notes that having a big name is not unusual. His interlocutors in the past included former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, and Dimitri Kozak, another Putin ally whose eponymous 2003 memorandum was in some eyes the closest the conflict came to a resolution (and in others, a Russian gambit that came dangerously close to bamboozling the West). With so many new players at the table, observers should be prepared for anything. Anything, that is, but a speedy solution.  |