Russia blocks once again an OSCE Ministerial Statement on Moldova

The works of the Ministerial Council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which met in Brussels on December 4-5 2006, did not resulted in adopting a final Ministerial Declaration. This situation is repeating for the fourth year in a row, because of the misunderstandings between the majority of OSCE countries and Russia on several important issues. Also, the Council was not able to adopt the Regional Statement on Moldova. In light of this situation, the minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium presented the stance of the term-in-office presidency of OSCE as regards the progress within the Organisation. Moldova, USA, EU and NATO presented final statements on the results of the meeting. The representative of France, on behalf of 27 NATO members regretted the lack of progress in the case of Russian troops’ withdrawal from the territory of Moldova and called on Russia to resume and to finish as fast as possible the withdrawal of the Russian military forces. The delegation of USA stated that it is regrettable that a country blocks the efforts of the majority to reach progress in the conflicts from Georgia and Moldova. USA regrets the fact that the Ministerial Council did not manage to agree upon some steps in strengthening trust and spurring talks in order to solve this conflict. USA appreciated the progress of Russia in 2006 in what concerns Georgia commitments, but it solicited more progress in 2007 in order to settle the rest of problems in Georgia and to finish the withdrawal of Russian soldiers from Moldova. USA gives high consideration to CFE regime, but it will not ratify the CFE Treaty as long as the 1999 Istanbul commitments will not be fulfilled. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Andrei Stratan said he regretted the fact that the Council was not able to adopt the Ministerial Declaration and the Statement on Moldova at its annual meeting and also that he hopes this does not become a tradition in OSCE. Also, he mentioned that Moldova is determined to find a political settlement exclusively by peaceful means, based on respect for the sovereignty and its territorial integrity and that Moldova stands ready to resume the negotiations in the 5+2 format as soon as possible. The minister expressed his appreciation for the role of the European Union and the Unites States of America in determining positive developments both in the conflict settlement and in the broader regional context.