Moldovan parliament speaker meets German foreign minister

Chisinau, 26 July /MOLDPRES/ - Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu and German Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Frank-Walter Steinmeier discussed priorities of the German OSCE chairmanship and confidence building measures in the Transnistrian conflict settlement process at a meeting today, the parliament’s communication and public relations department has reported.      

Andrian Candu thanked for the contribution of the German OSCE chairmanship to resuming the process of five-plus-two negotiations after a two-year break. The speaker noted that the subject on Moldova’s reintegration was on the agenda of parliament’s priorities. Candu said that there was political will to advance in identifying solutions to settling the Transnistrian conflict, especially practical solutions for citizens from both banks of Dniester.

Andrian Candu referred to the work carried out by the parliamentary platform of consultation and parliamentary control to carry out the policy of Moldova’s reintegration, in order to provide political and legislative support to the negotiators. According to the speaker, the Platform’s priorities for the next period dealt with the development of a string of documents: concept on the special status, intermediate legislation to strengthen the negotiators’ mandate and eventual actions included in a roadmap for the Transnistrian conflict settlement.    

“We are looking for viable solutions to the Transnistrian conflict settlement by involvement of representatives of the parliament, government, civil society, experts and development partners. There is a good perspective and we hope that the next year will be a year of opportunities,” Andrian Candu said.

In another context, the parliament speaker said the elaboration of the Roadmap on priority reforms’ agenda had mobilized the political establishment to implement the actions provided for in the financial, banking, energy, fighting corruption sectors till late July. According to the speaker among the authorities’ priorities for the immediately next period, there are the singing of a new agreement with IMF and speeding up implementation of the Association Agreement, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. 

For his part, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier encouraged the parliament’s constructive approach in identifying concrete solutions, including by implementation of the actions seen in the protocol recently signed in Berlin, following five-plus-two consultations.   

In the end of the meeting, Andrian Candu  gave the foreign minister of Germany a box containing diaries of two German citizens from 1941-1945.   

“The five notebooks and the daily notings by two German citizens, have a historical, as well as human value, comprising the description of five years of their lives and pages on a personal relationship. These diaries were owned by a Chisinau resident, who gave them us to be donated to the German authorities. We will be happy if you manage to find the relatives or descendants of these diaries’ authors and they would come to Moldova to learn the places where their ancestors stayed,” Adrian Candu added.    

(Editor A. Raileanu)