All agreements with Tiraspol have been respected so far, Prime Minister

“All the agreements reached so far have been respected, and this builds trust among the participants in the settlement process”, Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat stated at a meeting with Transnistrian leader Yevgeny Shevchuk in Germany. The meeting took place in the German town of Rottach-Egern, on the occasion of a high-level conference dedicated to the Transnistrian conflict settlement, organized by OSCE in cooperation with Germany, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to a press release from the Moldovan Government, the meeting reviewed the measures which were implemented so far to fulfill the reached agreements, including the activity of the sectoral work-groups. At the same time, certain objectives were developed for the next period. Vlad Filat thanked the Irish OSCE Chairmanship for the organization of the event and mentioned that the partners' support in the settlement of Transnistrian conflict is very important. “It is paramount to further maintain the atmosphere of mutual trust and to respect the agreements reached for the settlement of the problem faced by the citizens on both banks of the river Nistru”, Vlad Filat said. As an example, the prime minister mentioned that, according to an agreement reached in April, starting Wednesday, children from eastern districts will have the opportunity to spend the holiday on the western side and vice versa. Filat also remarked the intensification of cultural relations, referring to the recent concert held in Tiraspol by the folk dance band Joc. “If we make an objective analysis we can see that there is some progress. We understand that in order to build a house we need a strong foundation. In our case the foundation is mutual trust, which we will continue to strengthen”, Vlad Filat stated. The Prime Minister further said that during the next period emphasis will be placed on improving the sectoral work-groups' activity so as to solve all the technical problems. Yevgeny Shevchuk stated for his part that he is satisfied with his collaboration with Vlad Filat. “There is an atmosphere of mutual trust developing between us and I think that we are at the beginning of a new path, and the strengthening of mutual trust will make it possible to find solutions to much more important problems in the future”, Yevgeny Shevchuk said. Vlad Filat and Yevgeny Shevchuk announced the participants in the 5+2 negotiation process that they agreed to continue activities aimed at resuming traffic on the bridge across Nistru in Gura Bacului, which has been closed for 20 years. They expressed their confidence that these measures will facilitate the movement of people of goods in the region, this segment being part of an international road. The extended meeting was followed by a reduced-format meeting with the participation of Vlad Filat, Yevgeny Shevchuk, Eugen Carpov and Nina Shtanski. They discussed the mutually agreed measures that should be further taken to improve freedom of movement and exclude existing obstacles.