Moscow has not left the resolution on the right to education in the Transnistrian region, adopted by the European Parliament at its plenary session on 6 February, unnoticed. We are surprised that the project mentioned in this resolution, prepared by the European parliamentarians from Romania was, to put it literally, "stamped" in the presence of less than ten per cent of the members of the European Parliament. We appeal to the European Union to approach issues related to the Transnistria peace process in a more responsible way in the future.

We regret the arrogant aspiration of the group of European deputies, who voted for it, to be experts in such a complicated and delicate problem. We are convinced that the position of the Russian Federation is justified: there is no alternative to the settlement of the conflict on the Dniester, which has been accumulating for 20 years, but through tedious restoration of trust between Kishinev and Tiraspol. The mission of the participants of the negotiation process, including the observers, consists in constructive assistance towards the advancement of this process rather than attempts to apply politicised pressure on one of the parties by adopting such resolutions.

Against this background, we are puzzled by the artificial shifting of problems related to the lack of direct dialogue between the parties to some "external influence". The Russian Federation has no jurisdiction over the left bank of Dniester (we have explained this many times in connection with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights mentioned in the resolution of the European Parliament). As to the Russian military presence, Moscow thinks that it has fulfilled its "Istanbul obligations". The joint peacekeeping operation on the Dniester, an interaction of bodies of its political and military management, still ensures support of stability in the Security area, in the interests of continuing negotiations to settle the Transnistrian conflict, but the mandate of the peacekeeping forces has not been exhausted yet.

12 February 2014