After the Meseberg memorandum was signed by Chancellor Merkel and President Medvedev in June of 2010, efforts to settle the Transnistria conflict have seen a restart of the official 5+2 negotiations in late 2011. However, it was only in April of 2012 that the parties reached an agreement on the principles and procedures and the agenda for the conduct of these negotiations. This breakthrough towards substantive negotiations is the background against which the Stiftung Wissenschaft and Politik organised this workshop on progress and challenges on the way towards a settlement of the Transnistria conflict. My paper examines the different options for such a settlement and the domestic and international guarantees it will require.
