National Defence committee  The role of the European Union is huge. It's not only that we have signed this association agreement with the European Union. We see it as a blueprint for our reforms. Actually, it sets up very clear steps that Moldova has to take in order to comply with the European norms and st

National Defence committee  Okay. Good. First, in signing the association agreement, Moldova did not exclude Transnistria from the provisions of this agreement. Today Transnistria exports over 70% of its goods to the European market and only 12% to the Russian market. This used to be completely different.

National Defence committee  Canada has been, as I mentioned, very supportive of Moldova's endeavours to solve the problem. It has been since I remember only.... I was posted to Washington in my first diplomatic mission, and I remember Canada's very firm support for Moldova's territorial integrity and indepe

National Defence committee  Thank you, indeed. We have recently seen some good signals from the Canadian government with regard to understanding, first of all, that the three countries of Moldova, Ukraine, and Georgia are facing the same problems and the same threats. There is increasing understanding that

National Defence committee  I looks like it is indeed very much limited, this monitoring mission.

National Defence committee  Indeed, there is the only official form of negotiations, which is the 5+2 process. Five means Moldova, the Transnistrian regime, Ukraine, OSCE, and as observers we have the European Union and the United States. Of course, we do not rule out the fact that we have to be engaging

National Defence committee  Within the OSCE, yes.

National Defence committee  We also signed an agreement that allows Transnistrian cars to participate in international traffic with special licence plates. They used to have their own, but they were not recognized anywhere. It also gives us the possibility, at least, of seeing who is participating in intern

National Defence committee  No, they have refused to do so.

National Defence committee  The Transnistrian population is around half a million. Out of that half-million, our figures show that around 360,000 people hold Moldovan passports. Especially since 2014, when Moldova was the first among the countries in the region to get a visa-free regime with the European Un

National Defence committee  But these people also have Russian passports. As I told you, there is a massive campaign to hand in Russian passports now. They have Ukrainian passports, although this contradicts the Ukrainian law because that country doesn't allow multiple citizenship compared to Moldova, where

National Defence committee  Yes, exactly, single member, which this time will provide for Transnistria having its representative in the national Parliament.

National Defence committee  Moldova is officially, and according to the constitution, a neutral country. Having said that, we have very strong co-operation with NATO. Last year the Moldovan government decided to inaugurate a NATO liaison office in Moldova, which was heavily criticized by part of the populat

National Defence committee  What is happening today in the eastern region of Ukraine unfortunately very much resembles the pattern used by Moscow in Transnistria in Moldova. It is clearly in the interest of Moscow to have a protracted, frozen conflict on our territory. The reasons for this are very obvious.

National Defence committee  Well, if I'm not mistaken, today the head of mission position is held by Britain, but I might be wrong. I know that it was the Americans for a few consecutive terms. It's interesting because the OSCE mission very clearly understands what the major objective is: to find a peacefu