OSCE supports new measures aimed at solving Transnistrian conflict

“The OSCE backs the new positive measures aimed at resolving the Transnistrian dispute planned by the Moldovan authorities. We support these measures publicly and through the OSCE's reports,” representatives of the Group for Moldova of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, which is headed by the Swedish MP Walburga Habsburg Douglas, said during a meeting with Moldova's Acting President and the Head of Parliament Mihai Ghimpu. Speaking about the Transnistrian conflict, Mihai Ghimpu said that the talks in the 5+2 format should be resumed and that Russia must fulfill the commitments to withdraw its troops and munitions from Moldova's territory that it made at the Istanbul OSCE Summit of 1999. “The democratization and demilitarization of the Transnistrian region are indispensable preconditions needed to solve the dispute. We want that our foreign partners engage more actively in achieving this goal,” Mihai Ghimpu said. The Group for Moldova of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was founded in 2000. It aims to promote peace, stability and the supremacy of law in Moldova and preserving its territorial integrity by encouraging the dialogue between the two banks of the Nistru. The resolution of the Transnistrian dispute is a priority for the Group. Walburga Habsburg Douglas was elected chairman of the Group in September 2009. The Group also includes MPs Pierluigi Mantini (Italy), Canan Kalsin (Turkey), and Jerrz Grafstein (Canada).