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Kiev, Chisinau aggravating crisis in Transdniestria — Transdniestrian foreign minister

Rhetoric of our Moldovan partners is becoming more and more combative, unfriendly and simply hostile, the special envoy of the Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE for the Transdniester settlement

TIRASPOL, July 7. /TASS/. Moldova’s and Ukraine’s authorities are only aggravating the crisis in the unrecognized republic of Transdniestria, Transdniestria’s Foreign Minister Nina Shtanski said on Tuesday at a meeting with Radojko Bogojevic, the special envoy of the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for the Trans-Dniester settlement.

"I must say that the activities of the Moldovan and Ukrainian authorities, regrettably, continue to aggravate the crisis in Transdniestria," she said.

"This year, trade with Moldova dropped by 24%," she cited statistics. "Transdniestria’s aggregate exports in this period slumped by $75 million. A slump in imports reached $170 million. Transdniestrian companies engaged in foreign economic activities are facing grave logistics problems, being forced to reorient trade flows from traditional routes to those that are not economically advantageous."

"Rhetoric of our Moldovan partners is becoming more and more combative, unfriendly and simply hostile. They continue to open criminal cases, the number of which is growing every week. Criminal proceedings are being launched not only against officials but also against businessmen who are engaged in trade with neighboring countries," Shtanski said.

Bogojevic, in turn, said he was keeping a close eye on the development of the situation and reassured that he understood Transdniestria’s concerns. He said he was tasked to bring to the parties in the negotiating process on the Transdniestrian settlement a message from the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic that Serbia, as a country presiding in the OSCE, was committed to the continuation of dialogue in an effort to find a political solution, the only right solution to any conflict.