European official reasserts necessity of withdrawing Russian troops from Transnistria and modifying peacekeeping format

The EU Special Representative for Moldova Kalman Mizsei said that the demilitarisation of the country’s eastern region is an essential condition for identifying a viable and sustainable solution to the Transnistrian conflict. The European official stressed that Russia must fulfil the international commitments it assumed at the OSCE Summit in Istanbul and underlined the necessity of changing the current peacekeeping format into an international mission of civil observers. According to a communiqué from the Parliament, cited by Info-Prim Neo, Kalman Mizsei made the statements at a meeting with Speaker Marian Lupu, leaders of parliamentary groups and non-affiliated MPs on February 13 in the evening. The cited source informs that the interlocutors discussed the present state and the prospects of solving the Transnistrian dispute. Kalman Mizsei reasserted that the EU is in favour of identifying a solution based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova and on the fundamental European values, within the international legal framework. The EU Special Representative highlighted the importance of a political consensus as regards the mechanisms and principles of solving the Transnistrian conflict. Also, there was stressed the importance of strengthening the measures aimed at building confidence between the two banks of the Nistru and of maintaining a permanent dialogue between the people living on the two banks. The EU official said that the sides involved in the talks should ensure the transparency of the negotiating process According to the Parliament’s press service, the MPs pleaded for a more active involvement of the legislative authority in the Transnistrian dispute and for greater transparency in the negotiating process. The interlocutors were unanimous in the opinion that the conflict does not have ethnic or religious problems at the root and can be solved by the sides’ will. The meeting was attended by the MPs Eugenia Ostapciuc, Serafim Urecheanu, Vlad Cubreacov, Oleg Serebrian, Iurie Rosca, Vladimir Turcanu, Grigore Petrenco, Dumitru Braghis, Vladimir Filat.