New round of five-plus-two talks on Transnistrian settlement might take place in Rome in next May

Chisinau, 27 March /MOLDPRES/ - A new round of five-plus-two negotiations might be held in Rome, Italy, in next May. Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for Transnistrian Settlement Process on behalf of Italy Franco Frattini made statements to this effect following a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration, political representative on behalf of Moldova Cristina Lesnic in Chisinau today.   

The last round of five-plus-two talks took place in Vienna on 27-28 November 2017.

At a news conference, the two officials said that they had discussed the next priorities, working agenda, situation in the Security Zone and observance of human rights.

“We have had a substantive discussion about the Latin-script schools, apostilling of diplomas, farmlands of farmers on the left bank of Dniester, criminal files against officials and inclusion of the vehicles from the region in the international traffic. Presently, Chisinau implements a string of decisions. We have solutions to advance within the dialogue, but we need also the punctual contribution of the actors involved in the negotiating process. We are open to find substantive solutions for the good of citizens,” Lesnic said.   

“At present, it is necessary that we switch to another stage in the freedom of movement of children and not only. If we refer to the zone nearby the settlement Gura Bacului, we want that, without the agreement of the Joint Control Commission, a premise for an international customs terminal or for a parking be created there. We have progress in apostilling diplomas, the first document was released by the Justice Ministry on 20 March and there are no any impediments. Another subject is the problem on returning lands; in this respect, over 87 per cent of the farmers submitted the needed acts and Tiraspol is to answer us to this topic,” the deputy prime minister for reintegration noted.   

For his part, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for Transnistrian Settlement Process Franco Frattini said that a solution to the Transnistrian conflict settlement would be a special status for the Transnistrian region, by preserving the territorial integrity of Moldova.

“We discussed also the implementation of those eight priorities of the Berlin+ Packet, which represents the list of actions scheduled for this year. I think that we can advance quite quickly in the Transnistrian dispute and provide positive results and I hope that those eight priorities will be successfully carried out till next May, when a new round of five-plus-two negotiations might take place. We would like the meeting be held till the summer holidays. Mutual trust is necessary in carrying out all subjects and the results should come on behalf of the leadership of the two sides. To settle the conflict, the subject on the withdrawal of foreign ammunitions and troops from the territory needs to be settled, and I think that we can advance to this end,” the OSCE official said.  

Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for Transnistrian Settlement Process on behalf of Italy Franco Frattini pays an official visit to Chisinau and Tiraspol on 26-28 March. In Chisinau, the special representative will have meetings with President Igor Dodon, Prime Minister Pavel Filip, as well as with the executive coordinator of the majority coalition council, Vlad Plahotniuc.    

In Tiraspol, the official will meet the so-called leader from the left bank of Dniester, Vadim Krasnoselsky and the political representative on behalf of the Transnistrian region, Vitaly Ignatyev.

(Reporter A. Ciobanu, editor M. Jantovan)