Moldova suggests converting EU and USA into mediators in transnistria negotiations

Invigoration of the efforts being undertaken by international partners presently, their initiatives and statements made at the top level are indicating that there exists a possibility to approve the European Union and the United States as international mediators to the Transnistrian settlement negotiations, along with Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE presently.

The statement was made by Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Issues Victor Osipov at the informal 5+2 consultative meeting held in Vienna.

As the Republic of Moldova’s Political Representative in the negotiation process, Victor Ossipov presented information about the actions and measures undertaken by the Government of Moldova to provide assistance to the populace and economic entities in the Transnistrian region.

He stressed that the Government’s recent decision to facilitate the exports of Transnistria-made products by railroad should help eliminate one of the main sources of tension, which had a negative impact on the negotiation process.

At the Vienna meeting, the Moldovan delegation put forth an initiative to improve the structure and activities of the expert groups formed to build up trust between the two parts of the country. In particular, the delegation proposed to attract the expert groups to an analysis of profiled documents signed before within the negotiation process framework, and to drawing up the results of their activities in the past year.

The Vienna forum participants have agreed to undertake in the nearest future – in the 5+2 and other formats – new steps towards further promotion of trust-building measures. The Moldovan delegation spoke out for augmenting working contacts on all levels, and reaffirmed a jointly set objective – to resume official negotiations before the end of this year.

Infotag’s dossier: In the current 5+2 format, Moldova and Transnistria act as the conflicting sides, Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE as international mediators; and the European Union and United States as observers. Moldova and an absolute majority of foreign countries and international organizations believe that the Transnistria problem can and should be solved exclusively in this format. However, in 2006 the 5+2 official negotiations were suspended due to the Transnistrian side’s unyielding stance.