OSCE Representative for Transdniestrian settlement process visits region

Ambassador Erwan Fouéré, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transdniestrian settlement process, had meetings with the political leadership in Chisinau and Tiraspol on February 3, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communiqué from the OSCE Mission to Moldova. The visit represents Fouéré’s first to the region as Special Representative. He met leaders and other senior officials in Chisinau and Tiraspol, including Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat, the new Transdniestrian leader Yevgeny Shevchuk, and the Chief Negotiators Eugen Carpov and Nina Shtanski. “My meetings in Chisinau and Tiraspol were constructive and informative, and I look forward to continuing our discussions when we meet in Dublin for the official 5+2 negotiations planned for 28 and 29 February,” he said. “The Irish OSCE Chairmanship intends to build on the recent momentum attained in the Transdniestrian settlement process to achieve concrete progress for the benefit of people living on both sides of the river.” Fouéré also met political party representatives in Chisinau as well as civil society representatives from both banks of the Nistru River, representatives of the mediators and observers in the Transdniestrian settlement process, representatives of the expert working groups on confidence-building measures, and the Co-Chairs of the Joint Control Commission. The official 5+2 negotiations were resumed following a hiatus of almost six years in Vilnius on November 30, 2011. The 5+2 format includes representatives of the sides, mediators and observers in the negotiations – Moldova, Transdniestria, the OSCE, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the US and the EU.