The Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Mr. William Hill welcomed the Law on main provisions of a legal status for the Transnistrian region passed by the Moldovan Parliament last Friday.

He appeared in the Viewpoint program on the "First Channel in Moldova" last Saturday night, and stated, in particular, that the document guarantees equipping Transnistria with a special legal status within the Republic of Moldova. Other issues, including reciprocal delegating of plenary powers and sides' guarantees are to be discussed after democratic elections in the Transnistrian region, he said.

William Hill failed to tell when such an election may be held in Transnistria or which criteria it is supposed to meet to be declared a free and democratic vote. He only said it is obvious that an election cannot be regarded as democratic in the present-day situation when Transnistrian security officers are always present at polling stations during voting.

The diplomat mentioned some other problems that impede the holding of free elections on the left Dniester bank.

He said, "We realize this will be difficult to overcome, but not impossible, and the OSCE is ready to help overcome these difficulties. If an agreed-on decision about election holding is taken, the OSCE will be ensuring election transparency and will monitor the polls".

In his words, the OSCE may set up an international electoral commission to be headed by a person of international renown and respect, e.g. a former President or Prime Minister.

William Hill believes it is unlikely to have the elections as early as this year. He said it will be a pity if the Tiraspol administration decides unilaterally to hold parliamentary elections in Transnistria in December 2005. Should this really happens, that election will share the fate of all previous elections in the Transnistrian region - the vote shall not be recognized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or Council of Europe, or international community as a whole, said the American diplomat.

The Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Mr. William Hill expressed concern over how the Moldo-Russian relations have been developing lately.

He appeared in the Viewpoint program on the "First Channel in Moldova" last Saturday night, and said that bilateral relations are, certainly, the two governments' business, but this relationship influences seriously the entire progress of the Transnistrian conflict settlement, "and only an idiot can say that is not so".

Appraising the situation around the Transnistrian settlement, he said that a mixed picture is taking shape: on the one hand, relations with Russia have a negative impact on the situation as a whole. On the other hand, situations in Romania and Ukraine after presidential elections there are favorable for Transnistrian problem settlement, "so I can say I am a moderate optimist".

The diplomat condemned the actions that led to gunshots near a peacekeeper post on the Vadul lui Voda Bridge on July 19.

"We have not yet arrived at a final conclusion. But I have carefully examined the situation and can say that lots of questions appear to the incident sides" William Hill said. He could not understand, for instance, why the non-governmental organization representatives disagreed to give their photo film, which featured nothing very important, in order to subsequently challenge the Russian peacekeepers' actions. On the other hand, the OSCE Mission Head expressed surprise over the actions by the peacekeepers who - after 1.5 hors of explanations - continued to stand armed with submachine guns before the crowd, and then made shots.

"All this needs to be scrutinized and assessed. I can say such situation is in no one's interests. This is a warning that situation in the Transnistrian Security Zone is not stable yet.