Head of OSCE Mission welcomes meeting between Vladimir Voronin and Igor Smirnov: Parliament's press service

Speaker Marian Lupu had a meeting with the Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Philip Remler on December 25. The two officials discussed the process of settling the Transnistrian dispute and issues related to the coming parliamentary elections, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the Parliament’s press service, the interlocutors welcomed the December 24 meeting between Moldova’s President Vladimir Voronin and the Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov, during which the head of state handed over a set of proposals for solving the Transnistrian dispute to the leader of Transnistria – the draft law on the status of Transnistria and the declaration on the guarantees and principles of settling the conflict. The given documents had been first discussed with all the mediators to the settlement process, the press release says. Marian Lupu stressed the importance of holding the talks in the 5+2 format, which remains optimal and provides transparency and credibility to the process both in the settlement period and at the post-conflict stage. Speaking about the 2009 parliamentary elections, the head of Parliament reiterated that the Moldovan authorities intend to implement the key values of the OSCE and hold democratic elections in accordance with the international standards. “Therefore, we want that a large number of international observers, first of all on behalf of the OSCE, to monitor the election campaign,” Marian Lupu said The Parliament’s press release does not include the OSCE Ambassador’s statements. The Organization has not yet commented on the meeting between Voronin and Smirnov. Vladimir Voronin and Igor Smirnov met in Tiraspol on December 24. The two leaders have not reached a consensus as regards the resumption of talks for solving the Transnistrian conflict in the 5+2 format. They agreed yet to continue the consultations in the 2+1 format, which includes Moldova, Transnistria and Russia.