First official meeting in 5+2 format will take place in Vilnius in a month

Representatives of the mediators and observers in the Transnistrian conflict settlement talks welcomed the proposal of the OSCE CiO Special Representative for Protracted Conflicts Giedrius Čekuolis to hold the first official meeting in the 5+2 format in Vilnius on November 30 – December 1 this year. They came together for a meeting in Chisinau on November 4, Moldova being represented by Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Eugen Carpov, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communiqué from the Government. The meeting was held in the context of the consultations on the organization of the formal talks in the 5+2 format. It centered on the agenda of the first official meeting in the 5+2 format. The interlocutors expressed readiness to contribute to the formulation of the general principles for conducting the negotiations, stressing the importance of holding the first round of the talks this year. The same day, Prime Minister Vlad Filat had a meeting with official representatives of the mediators and observers in the Transnistrian conflict settlement talks. He tanked the sides for the support provided to Moldova in the negotiations, which made headway. ”We would like things to develop quicker, but realize that step by step we will manage to identify a solution to the Transnistrian dispute so that the settlement is sustainable,” said the Premier. ”It is a difficult process, but we will progressively contribute to the solving of problems and we will thus use all the existing opportunities,” Giedrius Čekuolis said in the meeting. ”We hope now that the formal talks in the 5+2 format will be resumed, the visits paid by our partners to Moldova will enable to maintain a dynamic pace in the settlement process,” Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Iurie Leanca said in another meeting with representatives of the mediators and observers in the Transnistrian conflict settlement talks, on behalf of the OSCE, Russia, Ukraine, the EU and the U.S. On November 5, the representatives of the mediator and observers will go on a fact-finding visit to Tiraspol. The decision to resume the official talks in the 5+2 format, after a pause of several years, was taken in informal consultations in Moscow on September 22.