Could Transnistria become part of Ukraine?

Under certain conditions, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) could join Ukraine. This option was not ruled out by Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Tkach.

As Kommersant-Ukraine writes, the ambassador made this statement after negotiations on resolving the Pridnestrovian problem, which took place on October 27-28 in Chisinau and Tiraspol. At the same time, Tkach did not specify in what status this territory could join Ukraine.

Tkach noted that talks about the PMR joining Ukraine have been ongoing for quite a long time. "The PMR joining our country is possible in the event that Moldova changes its international legal status, for example, itself becomes part of some state. Then the residents of Pridnestrovie will receive the right to decide their fate at a referendum, the result of which could be joining Ukraine, Russia or any other country. These provisions were signed by the presidents of Moldova, Ukraine, representatives of the PMR, the Russian Federation and the OSCE," the ambassador explained. According to him, some Romanian politicians even declare their readiness to take Moldova into Romania, but without Pridnestrovie. "However, as far as I know, the Moldovan leadership is not going to join anyone," noted Dmytro Tkach.

In general, the negotiations on October 27-28 with the participation of Moldova, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), as well as Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE, the US and the European Union, according to Tkach's assessment, demonstrated that the resolution of the problem has moved from a dead point.

As the ambassador noted, the negotiations took place in accordance with the "Yushchenko plan," which envisages broad autonomy for the PMR within Moldova and the mandatory holding of democratic elections.

According to Tkach, the PMR will be able to obtain some specific status in about a year and a half. "As a political scientist, I can assume that it will be something between broad autonomy and a federation," Tkach said at his press conference. But the acquisition of status is possible only after elections recognized by the international community. The legitimacy of the parliamentary elections scheduled in the PMR for December 11 is not going to be recognized by any of the parties that participated in the negotiations.