CHISINAU, April 23. /TASS/. Yevgenia Gutsul, the leader of Moldova’s autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia, said she supports the idea of turning the country into a federation as a way to settle ethnic conflicts.
The idea was proposed by Ilan Shor, the leader of the opposition electoral bloc called Victory.
"Of course, I agree with him," she said on Solovyov Live television. "We will work on this."
Shor said federalization could be used to resolve the Transnistrian issue and the conflicts between Chisinau and Gagauzia. In 2003, the leadership of Moldova and breakaway Transnistria developed a settlement plan with the mediation of the deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, Dmitry Kozak. However, Moldova's third president, Vladimir Voronin, eventually refused to sign the document under Western pressure. Today, the so-called Kozak plan is harshly criticized by the pro-European government of Moldova.