New Strategy Center took part in the international conference Black Sea Security Forum, which took place on 14-15 June in Odesa, organized by all members of the Ukrainian Parliament from the Odesa region. New Strategy Center was one of the international partners of the event, which brought together officials and experts from Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and NATO and EU countries.
George Scutaru, Director General of the NSC, was a speaker in the panel “Charting the Path to Resolve the Transnistrian Conundrum”, together with Mihai Popsoi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova, Pavlo Klimkin, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, and Sergiu Ostaf, Director, CReDO, Republic of Moldova. The panel, moderated by Ukrainian journalist Sergyi Sidorenko, assessed the vulnerabilities of the Transnistrian reintegration process and the means available to Chisinau. George Scutaru noted that Moldova’s main vulnerabilities are the presence of Russian troops, dependence on electricity produced in Transnistria, lack of adequate budgetary resources to take over social responsibilities for the payment of pensions and salaries for budget employees. Investments in energy infrastructure, such as the high-voltage lines from Chisinau to Vulcanesti and between Suceava and Balti, will be able to connect the Republic of Moldova and Romania, so that electricity will no longer be imported from Transnistria, which produces it on the basis of free gas from Russia. Also, the gas to be extracted by Romania from the Black Sea will make it possible to ensure all consumption in the Republic of Moldova, eliminating any link and dependence on Russia. Romania, the EU and the Republic of Moldova should prepare an assistance plan dedicated to the reintegration of Transnistria, so that the Republic of Moldova can benefit from the necessary resources for this complex process.

Discussions showed that Moldova’s European future depends on the outcome of the war in Ukraine, with a Kyiv victory speeding up both the EU accession process and the reintegration of Transnistria into Moldova.
On the sidelines of the conference, George Scutaru and Ecaterina Dadiverina, Coordinator of the NSC’s Ukraine Project Department, held several discussions with Ukrainian experts and officials on various aspects of bilateral cooperation.