All aspects of the “package of eight” will be finalized by the end of the year: this was the historic outcome of the 5+2 talks on the Transnistrian settlement process held in Rome on 29 and 30 May under the Italian OSCE Chairmanship. The commitment is reflected in the Rome Protocol signed by the Sides, mediators and observers. The Protocol outlines clear timelines and mechanisms to ensure the rapid finalization of the outstanding issues from the “package of eight” priorities identified by the Sides in 2017, IPN reports.
“Agreements followed by implementation through local ownership and leadership have become the new norm of the Transnistrian settlement process. The Protocol signed by the Sides today gives me confidence that the remaining priorities related to telecommunications, criminal cases and the freedom of movement will be achieved by the Sides by the end of the year if not sooner,” said Franco Frattini, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transnistrian Settlement Process.
Ambassador Michael Scanlan, Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova and the OSCE mediator in the 5+2 format, said that over the past months, Chisinau and Tiraspol have demonstrated a genuine commitment to advance the settlement process. “I am confident the Sides will continue this results-oriented approach over the coming months, as the direct negotiations between the Sides in Chisinau and Tiraspol facilitated by the OSCE Mission move beyond the “package of eight” to ensure continued progress in the settlement process,” he stated.
This year Chisinau and Tiraspol have engaged in an active dynamic to implement three of the November agreements, related to the opening of the Gura-Bicului–Bychok bridge, to the apostilization of diplomas and to the functioning of Moldovan Latin-script schools. The Sides have reconfirmed timelines to finalize the agreement on the use of farmlands in the Dubasari district by 1 August and to launch by 1 September the implementation of the so-called “license plate agreement” signed by the Sides on 24 April 2018.
In an interview for Radio Free Europe’s Moldovan Service, political analyst Oazu Nantoi, expert in the Transnistrian issue, commenting on the event said the held talks have nothing to do with the settlement of the conflict that is not even a conflict if we look at the relations between the ordinary people from both sides of the Nistru. This round of talks forms part of the routine promoted by the OSCE, which needs to mimic the negotiation process, while Moldova is witnessing a regions segregation tendency. Moldova shows it is unable to build a functional state with the rule of law within the limits of the borders that are recognized by the international community.
