The Moldovan authorities’ determination to continue the efforts to identify comprehensive solutions to the Transnistrian conflict, by observing the sovereignty and territorial integrity within the internationally recognized borders, was underscored by Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, at the 28th OSCE Ministerial Council. The meeting was held in Stockholm on Decembers 2-3 under the aegis of the Swedish OSCE Chairpersonship. A new statement on the Transnistrians settlement process in the 5+2 format was adopted in the event, IPN reports.
The Reintegration Policies Bureau said the foreign affairs ministers of the 27 participating states of the OSCE reiterated their firm wish to reach a comprehensive, peaceful and sustainable solution to the Transnistrian conflict and underlined the necessity of fully implementing the commitments stipulated in the protocols of the 5+2 format and in the so-called Berlin Plus package, encouraging the development of new confidence building measures and stepping up of efforts to ensure the observance of the basic human rights and freedoms.
As in the previous statements, it was underlined the necessity of resuming the 5+2 format talks as soon as possible, approving of the active attitude of the mediators and observers of this formal and encouraging the continuation of the coordination of their efforts.
In his speech, Nicu Popescu expressed his concern about the alarming human rights situation in the Transnistrian region, calling on the OSCE community, in particular the mediators and observers to the 5+2 format, to combine forces to ensure the protection of human rights in the Transnistrian region, paying the necessary attention to the situation of the Romanian language schools in the Transnistrian region.
“I appreciated the reaffirmation in the OSCE ministerial statement on the talks in the 5+2 format of the central elements of the settlement process, which confirms the existence of an international consensus on the parameters of the Transnistrian settlement,” said Nicu Popescu, being quoted in a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. The official also reiterated Moldova’s consistent position concerning the necessity of fully withdrawing the ammunition stores and Russian troops from Moldova’s territory, in accordance with the international law and the constitutional provisions of the Republic of Moldova.
