'Talks have advanced, but still need to continue'

“We have seen real progress and I hope that until the start of (tomorrow's) meeting in Parliament we will see the end of this process”, stated Liberal-Democrat leader Vlad Filat at the end of a new round of tripartite talks on Wednesday evening on the formation of a center-right coalition. After almost three hours of talks, Vlad Filat told reporters that there are still some details that need to be discussed, and a next round of negotiations is expected to be held in the first half of the next day. For his part, Democrat Leader Marian Lupu said the talks with the colleagues from PLDM and PL have advanced, but they still need to be continued tomorrow. “Negotiations will also continue tonight at expert level and, naturally, we expect to meet once again tomorrow and try to cap off this process”. He added that the Democratic Party's position will be announced after the party's national assembly tomorrow at 12:00. At the same time, Lupu said the door for a center-left alliance is still open as the talks with the Communists earlier that day were quite successful. Liberal leader Mihai Ghimpu said that his party was still committed to forming a center-right alliance. He added that if the negotiations continued like today the odds were good that a four-year agreement on a coalition would be eventually signed. On Thursday, at 4.00 PM, proceedings in Parliament will continue, which are expected to produce a parliamentary majority and a Speaker.