CHISINAU, Moldova, April 28 (UPI) -- Moldanian President Vasila Voronin has held a special meeting over secessionist Transnistria and strained relations with Romania.
Moldpress reported on April 26 that Prime Minister Vasili Travel; Deputy Premier for Foreign and European Integration Minister Andrei Strata; Reintegration Minister Vasili Suva; head of the parliamentary commission for foreign policy, Sergio Static; Moldovan Ambassador to Romania Lydia Gut; Deputy Foreign and European Integration Minister Eugenia Kistruga; and presidential adviser Marc Tkaciuk attended the meeting. The identifies of Romanian officials were not disclosed.
The participants in the Moldovan-Romanian bilateral meeting are attempting to hammer out drafts on a treaty regulating Moldovan-Romanian relations along with a border and visa draft agreement.
Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said: "Certainly, the climate of trust and sincerity, which has been established in the relations between the two countries, will allow us to sign in the near future these documents of crucial importance.
"It is clear for everybody that the basic treaty and the treaty on frontier with Moldova are documents able to become Romania's most important foreign policy investment in the Transnistrian settlement, in strengthening the regional security in the Black Sea Basin."
Moldovan-Romanian relations have been strained since 1991 over the issue of Transnistria, a region of Moldova primarily peopled by ethnic Russians and Ukrainians. The region, reportedly a transit area for smuggled goods, is opposed to strengthened and closer relations between Romania and Moldova, which was once part of Romania.
