There are all preconditions for resuming talks on Transnistria settlement, OSCE Chairman says

After two years of stagnation, all prerequisites are now in place for resuming the talks on the Transnistria settlement, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva told a news conference in Chisinau on January 17, at the end of his visit to Moldova. According to the European official, both Moldova and the Tiraspol administration are ready for this dialogue, but it is hard to say when the talks will resume. “I have been to Tiraspol and understood that the attitudes are different, but if there is political will, we will have a clear view on the Transnistria dispute.” Ilkka Kanerva says that such international players as the OSCE, Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and the EU should be engaged in the negotiating process for it to be more efficient. The OSCE Chairman said he will send one of his special assistants to discuss the possibility of resuming the talks with the sides involved in the conflict. According to him, the Transnistria dispute can be solved only in a peaceful way - through negotiations and cooperation. Ilkka Kanerva reiterated that the OSCE is in favour of identifying a peaceful solution to the conflict, by observing the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova. Attending the news conference, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Andrei Stratan said that the European official’s visit to Chisinau is important for the Moldovan authorities. “We have expressed our stance and the wish to continue the dialogue with the international partners in order to settle the Transnistria conflict as the EU, OSCE and the U.S. have taken significant steps in this direction. It is important that this positivism and the elements accumulated during the latest meetings, which can contribute to solving the Transnistria dispute, are preserved during the Finnish OSCE Chairmanship,” the minister said. Speaker Marian Lupu said that the Russian troops should be completely and unconditionally withdrawn from Moldova’s territory in compliance with the international commitments assumed by Russia. The Head of Parliament reiterated the necessity of replacing the peacekeeping forces from the eastern region of Moldova with an international mission of civil observers, the parliament’s press service informs. The Transnistria conflict settlement talks were halted in spring 2006, after Tiraspol refused to take part in the negotiating process, saying the imposition of the rule to register with the Moldovan authorities for exporting goods on the Transnistrian economic entities is economic blockade.