Contradictory statements within ruling coalition weaken government's efforts to solve Transnistrian conflict. Info-Prim Neo Interview with EU Special Representative for Moldova Kalman Mizsei

[ - How was the visit of Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Victor Osipov appreciated in Brussels? Which impact may the results of this visit have on the process of Transnistrian settlement?] This was a very fruitful and friendly visit. Deputy Prime Minister Osipov had meetings with EU officials from the Council of the European Union, European Commission and European Parliament. We had deep discussions on current state of affairs in the negotiation process after the relatively successful round of last informal 5+2 round in Vienna in the beginning of March. This last round gave us hopes for possible resumption of official negotiations during this year. The Moldovan intention to create a comprehensive national strategy for reintegration of the country was also discussed. It will be a challenging but very useful endeavour and the EU is ready to provide help in this regard. Deputy Prime Minister Osipov also participated alongside me at two roundtables in an attempt to raise awareness of the Transnistrian issue in Brussels and look for possible ideas that might help the settlement process. This set of meetings again underlined how deep the agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova is when it comes to the right instruments to solve the Transnistrian conflict. [ - Were there identified any new approaches to the process of the Transnistrian settlement within the framework of the discussions held by Deputy Prime Minister with the European Officials?] We are in frequent contact with the Moldovan authorities on all the issues related to the Transnistrian conflict. As I said the encouraging outcome of the last informal 5+2 meeting in Vienna gives ground for hope in a possible resumption of formal talks this year. The EU continues its active efforts to support Moldova's authorities in resuming formal negotiations in this format without any conditionalities. We also welcome the initial progress in the confidence building process which was possible after the resumption of the meetings of respective working groups. But the work should continue with re-doubled efforts in order for people to start feeling the concrete results of this process. [ - How do you estimate the readiness of the present authorities of the Republic of Moldova for a qualitative settlement of the conflict?] I appreciate your government's positive stance and willingness to solve the Transnistrian question as well as its engagement in confidence building process. From the day the Government took office it showed great openness for finding pragmatic solutions to people's daily problems. The Government proved also its professional attitude when it sometimes has shown extreme tolerance to some actions from Transnistrian side. We see this and appreciate this. I believe the new strategic framework which is under preparation may bring added value to the settlement process. It would be very justified to have a national consensus over vital issues of Transnistria's reintegration that can be achieved by dialogue. Sometimes even within the governing coalition there are contradictory public statements - it would be good to have such a consensus that eliminates these ambiguities that weaken the hand of the government in its efforts to solve this conflict. [ - How do you estimate the readiness of the non-recognized Tiraspol authorities for a qualitative settlement of the conflict?] In the beginning of March first signs of possible resumption of formal 5+2 negotiation were identified, including from Transnistrian side. We see however that not all forces in Transnistria are happy with this positive dynamics and want to derail the process. I appreciate the goodwill from Tiraspol in engaging in confidence building process and the readiness to solve day to day problems of people. But I also firmly believe that the confidence process should go hand in hand with the political process and therefore I hope that Tiraspol will agree to the resumption during this year of formal 5+2 negotiations without conditions. The confidence building process should also be deeply reciprocal - both sides need to add their contributions and the outside actors need to encourage them to consequentially construct the building blocks of a trustful atmosphere ahead of the formal 5+2 negotiations. [ - Shall we expect in near future a visit to Brussels of a senior official from Tiraspol “for an equilibrium”?] We do not need equilibrium here but we are engaging with all parties. Having suspended the visa-ban against the Transnistrian leadership, we expect to see some concrete positive steps from the Transnistrian side. The areas where progress is expected are well known: resumption of formal negotiations, solution to all problems of Latin script schools in the region, lifting of hurdles to free travel of people across the internal administrative line. The authorities in Tiraspol know very well these issues and we hope they will solve the problems. [Valeriu Vasilică, Info-Prim Neo]