The session of the PMR Foreign Ministry Collegium traditionally coincides with the Day of the diplomatic service employee. The purpose of the event is to summarize the results of the past year. The current meeting is organized as a video conference. The President Vadim Krasnoselsky took part in the Collegium. Among those invited are the First President of the PMR, leadership of the presidential executive office, the Supreme Council and the Government of the PMR, a number of ministries, departments, institutions and organizations, including the Representative Office of Pridnestrovie in Moscow, as well as heads of foreign diplomatic missions, heads and representatives of foreign embassies.
The main report on the results of the activities of the Foreign Ministry of Pridnestrovie in 2020 was made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PMR Vitaly Ignatiev. The speaker at the beginning of his speech drew attention to the specificity of the past year: the pandemic had a serious impact on all spheres of society. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not an exception, whose employees had to face an avalanche-like increase in the number of citizens' requests for displacement. A special section to help the applicants was created on the Ministry’s website, which was used by six thousand Pridnestrovians. It was noted that in the reporting period, timely informing the population about the activities of the PMR Ministry of Foreign Affairs acquired particular importance, which confirms a noticeable increase in traffic to the official website of the department (156000 visits). In addition, the employees of the ministry participated as consultants in the work of the Crisis Center, assisted in the return to their homeland of Pridnestrovian citizens who were found abroad during the pandemic (Pridnestrovians returned from thirty countries of the world), and foreigners who are under quarantine restrictions in Pridnestrovie. Vitaly Ignatiev outlined the assistance in combating the spread of COVID-19 provided to the republic from the outside (the total amount in monetary terms is 330000 USD), and recalled that the delegation of Rospotrebnadzor, following its visit to the republic, highly appreciated the complex of measures taken in Pridnestrovie for prevention and preventing the spread of coronavirus.
The speaker focused on the course of the negotiation process, noting its stagnation in the reporting year 2020. Vitaly Ignatiev drew attention to the three times changed representation of Moldova, and recalled more than a modest number of meetings held: one at the highest level, two - between political representatives of the parties, 26 meetings of expert (working) groups and not a single meeting in the 5 + 2 format - for the first time in 10 years. There was no traditional informal Bavarian conference in 2020. The practice of so-called shuttle diplomacy intensified under these conditions: seven meetings of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PMR with the Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova took place, he visited Pridnestrovie three times during the year and twice participated in videoconferences, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman. At the same time, Chisinau blocked the solution of issues on the negotiation agenda, simultaneously introducing new restrictions for the citizens of the PMR. Vitaly Ignatiev listed specific destructive steps of Moldova and recalled the measures taken by Pridnestrovie to solve the problems posed by the Moldovan side. Vitaly Ignatiev drew attention to the fact that many international partners share the Pridnestrovian understanding of the current situation.
The minister spoke about various directions, forms and mechanisms of interaction between Pridnestrovie and Russia, Ukraine, the republics of the Caucasus, foreign countries and various international organizations. He focused on the topic of peacekeeping on the Dniester, noting the systematic nature of the work of the PMR Foreign Ministry to protect it in the existing format.
Vitaly Ignatiev congratulated his colleagues on their professional holiday, and conveyed congratulations on behalf of the Russian diplomat Sergei Gubarev, a Russian diplomat.
The participants of the Collegium were greeted by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Moldova Oleg Vasnetsov. He spoke about adaptation to distance diplomacy, which was forced to actively practice by the coronacrisis, noting at the same time that the Pridnestrovian-Russian foreign policy interaction even in these conditions was quite dense last year, as well as the flexibility and multi-vector nature of Russian diplomacy in addressing range of tasks. The Ambassador considers that it is necessary to intensify regular communication. Oleg Vasnetsov, speaking about the support of compatriots, outlined the expansion of the range of humanitarian cooperation.
Leonid Manakov briefly informed about the activities of the Official Representation of Pridnestrovie in Moscow. He said that 4200 applications from Pridnestrovians temporarily residing in the Russian Federation were received during two years of the office's existence. He outlined the list of questions that are most often asked by the citizens of the PMR. He noted the effectiveness of such a tool as a questionnaire: this mechanism was launched by the Pridnestrovian Foreign Ministry on the official website during the introduction of quarantine restrictions. The diplomat said that due to the pandemic, so far only three of the five wheelchairs allocated for the Pridnestrovian Afghans have been delivered to the addressees. In addition, there is no way to bring a batch of personal protective equipment to Pridnestrovie. Leonid Manakov spoke about 32 round tables on various topics held during the year, as well as projects that could not be implemented due to coronavirus circumstances. We are talking about a festival of young talents, the press club, exhibition of works by Pridnestrovian artists on the Russian site and Russian painters visiting the Pridnestrovian region to write new works here. Performances were prepared in Pridnestrovie by compatriot artists living in Russia. All these plans are not phased out, but are postponed for a more favorable period, assured Leonid Manakov. He noted that the full report, which took 140 pages of text, was sent for familiarization to Pridnestrovie.
The First President of the PMR Igor Smirnov addressed the current diplomats and officials who participated in foreign policy in the past with words of congratulations.
The PMR President congratulated the diplomatic workers on their professional holiday, noting the importance of their activities. Further in his speech, Vadim Krasnoselsky spoke about the freezing of the negotiation process, its prerequisites and real reasons. He considers the pandemic far from the main ones. The President recalled the events of the summer of 2019, when the signing of the final document in Bratislava was disrupted, noting that the purpose of this sabotage was to liquidate the negotiating platform in the form of the "5 + 2" format, pushing Pridnestrovie out of an equal dialogue and, as a result, deciding the fate of the PMR without taking into account the opinion of Pridnestrovians. Vadim Krasnoselsky spoke about the difficulties of working in the conditions of total resistance of the Moldovan side to the movement forward.
Vadim Krasnoselsky recalled the delay at the border of socially significant goods, including medical supplies, about opposing the deployment of laboratories for PCR studies on the territory of Pridnestrovie, about the politicization of the issue of installing quarantine posts. The PMR President drew attention to the fact that the same Moldovan politicians are involved in all the processes that negatively affect the course of the negotiations, and there is a consistency in this activity. Vadim Krasnoselsky expressed hope that the situation will change during the Swedish Chairmanship of the OSCE.
The PMR President in his speech focused on the choice of the European vector of development not only by the Moldovan elite, but also by the people of the Republic of Moldova, noting that Pridnestrovie respects the choice made and is ready for constructive interaction with the elected leadership of the neighboring state. Vadim Krasnoselsky recalled that at the end of last year he sent a letter to Maia Sandu, in which he called for the intensification of the Pridnestrovian-Moldovan dialogue on all platforms. The PMR President noted that his call to get away from aggression and follow the path of peaceful resolution of pressing issues was heard.
The PMR President returned in his speech to the topic of respectful attitude of the international community to the name of the Pridnestrovian state. He reminded about inadmissibility of using the term "Transnistria" in relation to the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, noting that this word, harmless from the point of view of translation, was discredited and drenched in the blood of civilians of the Pridnestrovian region during the years of rampant fascism.
Vadim Krasnoselsky said that international recognition is an important, but not a key factor in the independence of Pridnestrovie and the well-being of the Pridnestrovian people. He emphasized that references to external factors are unacceptable, noting that extremely weak politicians are cited as an excuse for failures. The state is being built and strengthened from within, the PMR President is sure. He urged to follow the state idea spelled out in the Development Strategy of Pridnestrovie, to preserve the true past and build a successful future on our own.
Special thanks from Vadim Krasnoselsky - for support in general and peacekeeping in particular - are addressed to the Russian Federation represented by Russian Ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Concluding his speech, the PMR President expressed gratitude to the employees of the PMR Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their service, directing the Foreign Ministry to intensify work in all areas, and congratulated the participants of the reporting Collegium on the Day of the Diplomatic Worker.
