OSCE to back Free Trade Agreement implementation in breakaway Transnistrian region, EU high official says

Chisinau, 16 February /MOLPRES/- Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transnistrian Settlement Process Cord Meier-Klodt said the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) would fully back the Moldovan authorities’ efforts to implement the provisions of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA). The EU official made the statement during today’s meeting with Moldovan Economics Minister Octavian Calmic.

“We want to organise several economic forums during the German OSCE chairmanship and invite Moldovan and EU experts to participate and carry out a set of concrete projects to be implemented in the respective districts. One of them is already planned for May 2016,” the OSCE official said.

The OSCE special representative noted that during its OSCE chairmanship, Germany would offer Moldova full support in the Transnistrian conflict’s settlement for the benefit of residents on both sides of Dniester River.

The two officials have also tackled aspects related to the implementation of the DCFTA in the Transnistrian region, as well as Moldova’s cooperation with OSCE in the Transnistrian conflict settlement process. Deputy Prime Minister Octavian Calmic said Moldovan authorities were interested in the implementation of DCFTA’s provisions all over Moldova, inclusively in its breakaway Transnistrian territory. “In order to achieve these goals, we are actively cooperating with our EU experts and experts from the breakaway region, as we understand that our success largely depends on the cooperation of all actors involved in this process,” Calmic emphasized.

The Moldovan official touched upon the actions the new government took to implement the DCFTA provisions in Moldova and in its Transnistrian region in particular. Calmic highlighted that Moldovan top authorities hoped for a highly active and efficient collaboration with the representatives of Transnistria’s local administrations during the DCFTA’s implementation.

(Reporter V. Bercu, Editor M. Jantovan)