13:51 18/07/2011
This story by Vaslili Kashirin, political scientist Strategic Culture Foundation expert, was published in International Affairs magazine.
There is consensus across the expert community that a new phase of the settlement in Transnistria was energized by the June 4-5, 2010 informal meeting between Russian President D. Medvedev and German Chancellor A. Merkel in the Meseberg Castle near Berlin. The key result produced by the talks was Russia's consent to a bigger EU role in the resolution of the conflict over Transnistria or – in absolutely precise terms – to an upgrade of the EU status in the process from an observer to an active player. On its part, Moscow obviously expected to be rewarded by Germany's and the whole European Union's greater openness to Russian initiatives in the sphere of European security.