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Editor's reply

20 09 2006  Regarding Dardan Velaij complaints about our piece Regarding Dardan Velaij complaints about our piece "Transdniester Launches New Divorce Bid" (by Alina Radu, a Moldovan journalist) the editorial office of Balkan Insight feels obliged to note the following. )

There was a "large delegation" from Kosovo during the September 17 referendum in Transdniester, both from political parties and non-governmental organisations. According to reliable sources (reports from the field from our correspondent, from other Romanian journalists, who attended the event, and from other independent sources such as Jason Cooper, the editor of Tiraspol Times publication jasoncooper@yahoo.com, the leader of the delegation was Kurtesh Devaja, a member of the presidency of the Albanian Christian Democratic Party of Kosovo, PSHDK and a spokesperson for the Albanian ministry of transport.

Valija claims, "The article, in my view, is biased and claims that Kosovo looks towards Transdnistria to justify its independence bid which is not true. It is in the interest of Transdnistria and a few other regions in former USSR that like to link their causes to the international approach towards Kosovo." This assertion is incorrect.

In fact, the piece shows clearly that Transdnistrean authorities "see precedents in the former Yugoslavia, where current talks over Kosovo may lead to the kind of statehood it seeks for itself".

This is clearly stated in the following part of the article, "No Western observers oversaw the vote. A Russian delegation was present, however, as was a large party of observers from Kosovo, another breakaway region seeking independence."

Kosovo's interest in the region's fate is reciprocal. Like other
breakaway areas in former Soviet states, Transdniester sees precedents in the former Yugoslavia, where current talks over Kosovo may lead to the kind of statehood it seeks for itself.

"We are trying to repeat the experience of Kosovo,"said Valery Litskai, Transdniester's foreign minister said, on the eve of the vote. "We are looking at them and they are looking at us. Sure, it is out of question to get full independence and join Russia soon and we should not build up illusions. But the referendum was a first step."