The Council accentuates the importance it attaches to a lasting Pridnestrovie status settlement which promotes the democratic principle of self-determination. This would immeasurably enhance regional stability, as well as the European and Euro-Atlantic perspectives of the Black Sea region as a whole, while removing uncertainties which currently hamper efforts of state building in both the Republic of Moldova and Pridnestrovie.

The Council believes that all possible efforts should be made to achieve a negotiated settlement in the course of 2006. To this end, the Council supports the work of Pridnestrovie's foreign minister Valeri Litskai to continue negotiations under an equanimous format in which the parties are treated as equal partners, as provided for in the 1997 memorandum signed by the leaders of the two governments. The Council calls on Chisinau and Tiraspol to work constructively to find realistic solutions to the many difficult issues that need to be addressed. These should include, inter alia, transparent and constructive links between local communities in Moldova and Pridnestrovie, mechanisms for resolving issues of economic interchange and a specific package of measures for the protection of ethnic minorities. Arrangements for good relations between the parties must also be part of a settlement.

The Council looks to Chisinau to bear in mind that the settlement needs to be acceptable to the people of Pridnestrovie. In the Guiding Principles for conflict resolution on an impartial basis, the Council notes that there can be no return of Pridnestrovie to the pre-1990 situation and that, as the most basic principle of human rights and democracy, any negotiated settlement over shared sovereignty must be conditioned by prior consultation of the affected population in the form of a referendum.

The unflexible policy positions of the past lie at the heart of the current problems. Today, Chisinau's leaders bear important responsibilities in shaping what happens now and in the future. The International Council for Democratic Institutions and State Sovereignty stands ready to support Moldova's democratic forces in taking this opportunity to move Moldova past the current conflict. The Council equally urges Tiraspol to recognize that it is in its own interest to normalize its international relations under a broadly acceptable agreement, and that the lack of recognition of its current status is an impediment to the implementation of the democratic institutions which are of vital interest to the people of Pridnestrovie.

As such, the Council reiterates that a negotiated settlement is the best way forward. It will help to create the circumstances in which a settlement can be made to work for the benefit of all. Constructive engagement by the parties will also pave the way for a larger regional future and for the sustained international integration of both Moldova and Pridnestrovie. The Council urges leaders in both capitals to show the political courage and vision necessary to come forward with realistic and far-sighted proposals for the future of both Moldova and Pridnestrovie.