OSCE PA Delegation Chief confers with parliamentary leaders about Transnistria settlement and progress of reforms

The latest developments in the Transnistria issue and the progress of democratic reforms have formed the key part of the discussions between the head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s delegation for Moldova, Josselin de Rohan, and the leaders of the parliamentary groups, which took place Tuesday and Wednesday in Chisinau. [Vlad Cubreacov, president of the Christian-Democrat group] told reporters after the meeting with the OSCE official that the only item on the meeting agenda was the Transnistria issue and potential pragmatic solutions to the conflict. According to Cubreacov, the discussions focused on possibilities of sending troops and ammunition back to Russia as a condition for an equitable settlement. [Dumitru Diacov, the leader of the Democratic faction] during the meeting advocated for keeping the electoral threshold at a 4 percent level and for free and fair elections. As for the fight against corruption, Diacov insisted that it should be real, not just imitated. Speaking about the Transnistria settlement, the Democrat MP said the collocutors agreed on the necessity of holding political discussions in a transparent manner. [The leader of the Moldova Noastra Alliance Party, Serafim Urecheanu,] told reporters that the key issues referred to the views of the Opposition on the progress of the democratic reforms and on the settlement process in Transnistria. The AMN president said he briefed the OSCE official on how the democratic standards are observed in Moldova. He told in particular about how the representatives of the ruling party took advantage of public resources when campaigning in Rezina. When the OSCE official asked him to what extent the Russian factor blocks the settlement, Urecheanu said that the Communists took power in order to include Moldova into Russia-Belarus Union, that is why the efforts to have the Russian troops withdrawn from Moldova have been quite insignificant. Rohan also met with [Eugenia Ostapciuc, the leader of the Communist group]. However, she refused to talk to the press. Josselin de Rohan was appointed as OSCE PA mission head for Moldova in August 2006 by Goran Lennmarker, the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.