Catherine Ashton welcomes Moldova-Transnistria talks

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton has welcomed the meeting of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova Vlad Filat and the Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov. The meeting took place on 9 September in the German town of Bad Reichenhall and Ashton highlighted that “such bilateral contacts are meant to build consensus between the two sides on the need to resume negotiations in the ‘5+2’ format”. Ashton urged the adoption of rules of procedure for the working groups set up by Chisinau and Tiraspol to discuss confidence-building measures. She expressed hope that the negotiations would renew when two sides meet again in Moscow later in September. “In that context, the effective implementation of confidence-building measures and the continuation of bilateral contacts at the political level between the two sides will be essential building blocks for the success of negotiations on the settlement of the Transnistria conflict,” Ashton stated.