The Republic of Moldova, through its Permanent Representative at the OSCE Victor Osipov, subscribed to the EU statement on “Russia’s Ongoing Aggression against Ukraine and Illegal Occupation of Crimea”, which expresses serious concerns about the aggravation of the security situation in this conflict area and reiterates the condemnation of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol town and the fact that the Russian Federation supports the military actions of the separatists in Donbas, IPN reports, quoting a press release of the Embassy of Moldova in Austria.
It happened in the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in which Victor Osipov took part as Moldova’s Permanent Representative for the first time. In the same meeting, the representative of the Czech Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe presented the priorities of his country as President.
In the response statements session, Ambassador Osipov underlined the importance of the cooperation between the Republic of Moldova and the Council of Europe. He informed the ambassadors to the OSCE about the recent visit paid by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland to Chisinau and about the official launch of the Council of Europe Plan of Action for the Republic of Moldova for 2017-2020.
The meeting approved the OSCE unified budget for 2017, which is of €138 982 600. The Republic of Moldova is one of the 57 states that contribute to the formation of the OSCE budget.
At the level of bilateral relations, Moldova’s Ambassador to Austria Victor Osipov had a meeting with the Secretary General of the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of Austria Michael Linhart. The Austrian official welcomed the appointment of a new ambassador of Moldova to Vienna and voiced hope that the Moldovan-Austrian relations will continue to develop dynamically. He reiterated Austria’s support for the European course of the Republic of Moldova.
Resident Ambassador Osipov thanked the Government of Austria for keeping Moldova on the list of priority states of the Austrian Development Cooperation in terms of foreign policy and assistance. The interlocutors also discussed charity and social projects promoted in Moldova, noting the activity of the Austrian charity foundation “Concordia”.