Chisinau - President Vladimir Voronin described a 16-year stand off with Moldova's renegade province Transnistria as "very resolvable," Infotag news agency reported Tuesday. The remarks about the long-running conflict were among the most conciliatory made by a Moldovan leader, in the last decade.
Russian-speaking Transnistria seceded from Romanian-speaking Moldova after a civil war ending in 1992. Voronin and Transnistria's authoritarian leader Igor Smirnov restarted reunification talks earlier this month, after a two-year hiatus.
The Moldovan leader blamed "outside influences" for long-term antagonistic relations between Chisinau and Tiraspol, Transnistria's unrecognised capital.
"For years we have attempted to improve relations, but we have found that everywhere we go there were (political) minefields left behind by our predecessors ... and outsiders in the conflict ... that detonated at our every step," Voronin said, in a NIT television speech.
"We (Voronin and Smirnov, and their governments) are now engaged in a de-mining process," Voronin said.
Voronin accused "international arms merchants" of sabotaging attempts to bring peace between the two sides - an indirect slam against Russia, which maintains three giant Soviet-era arms depots in Transnistria, despite Moldovan calls to evacuate them or admit international inspectors.
The Moldovan leader also criticised recent statements by Romanian nationalists arguing that Moldova, as a Romanian-speaking nation, should become a part of Romania, and Transnistria become either part of Russia or Ukraine.
"Every time relations improve between Transnistria and Moldova, there are hysterics in Romania," Voronin said. "But we can only resolve this conflict on our own."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has played a key role in the conciliation process so far by giving the Kremlin's backing to an eventual Moldova-Transistria reunification, Voronin noted.
Voronin cited as proof of ongoing reconciliation between Transnistria and Moldova recent progress in bilateral trade, particularly over Moldova's insistence that Transnistrian companies register their goods as Moldovan for international export.
The condition had according to past Tiraspol complaints placed the Transnistrian economy, dependant as it is on industrial commodity exports, "in a state of blockade," as without national government registration Transnistrian goods are according to international law illegal for foreign export.
No country has recognised Transnistria's independence. Moldova has long argued the export registration measure was necessary to control smuggling rampant in the region.
The export registration rule is now being complied with more and more by Transnistrian businesses, Voronin claimed, pointing to 500 plus Transnistrian companies now exporting their goods legally as Moldovan manufactures.
Trade between Moldova and Transnistria - considered domestic by Moldova and foreign by Transnistria - increased by 30 per cent during 2007, he added.
If accurate, the numbers marked a dramatic step towards economic reintegration of Transnistria's strong industrial sector into Moldova's primarily agricultural economy, considered by observers critical for eventual reunification.
Voronin was considering a removal of all trades sanctions currently in effect against Transnistria, if talks between Chisinau and Tiraspol continue to progress, the Interfax news agency reported in early April.
More than 300,000 Transnistrian citizens - more than half of the enclave's entire population - already have received Moldovan passports, Voronin added.
No country recognizes passports issued by the Transnistrian government. As both Moldova and Transnistria are among Europe's poorest regions, Transnistrian citizens wanting to work abroad need a Moldovan passport to travel outside their country.
