CHISINAU, TIRASPOL CREATE NEW NEGOTIATING TRACK.

Special commissions, recently created by the Moldovan parliament and the Transdniester Supreme Soviet, met for the first time on July 3 in Tiraspol. The commissions are empowered to seek a “normalization” of relations and to work out the legal and political status of Transdniester. Chisinau Parliament Chairman Dumitru Diacov and Tiraspol Supreme Soviet Chairman Grigory Marakutsa head the two groups, each comprised of ten members. The Chisinau delegation includes four Communists, reflecting that party’s strength in parliament. The parliamentary talks are supposed to supplement, not to replace, the negotiations at the executive level, which are mediated by Russia, Ukraine, and the OSCE. Those negotiations have been deadlocked since their inception in 1992 even though they have generally avoided the thorniest issue–that of Transdniester’s political status. The two legislatures should now grapple with that issue. (Flux, Basapress, July 3 and 4)

PRESIDENT SAYS “NO” TO REGIONAL AUTONOMY.