​OSCE MINISTERS DECIDE TO ADOPT STATEMENT ON TRANSNISTRIA

Representatives of the stakeholders in the Permanent Conference on Political Issues within the Negotiation Process towards a Transnistrian Settlement (the 5+2 format) held consultations on the draft of a Statement on Transnistria negotiation progress.

According to the Republic of Moldova Bureau for Country Reintegration, the Statement will be adopted at the 23rd conference of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers that is completing its work in Hamburg on Friday night. Moldova was represented at the consultations by the republic’s Political Representative at the Transnistria negotiations, Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Affairs Gheorghe Balan.

The 5+2 mediators [Russia, OSCE, Ukraine] and observers [the European Union, the United States] exchanged opinions on the draft document. They expressed hope for invigoration of the negotiating process on Transnistrian conflict settlement.

The Hamburg forum is being attended by delegations from 57 OSCE member countries led mostly by their foreign ministers. The participants are analyzing and assessing the Organization’s activities, ways to further develop dialog on security issues etc.

The Hamburg session has analyzed the work results and successes achieved by the German OSCE presidency in 2016, including the activities by the Special Representative of the German OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transnistrian Settlement Process, Ambassador Cord Meier-Klodt, in the Transnistria settlement process.

Gheorghe Balan thanked Ambassador Meier-Klodt for his considerable contribution to promoting the Transnistrian dialog and to establishing an efficient interaction between all stakeholders.

Cord Meier-Klodt presented his Austrian successor at the post – Ambassador Wolf Dietrich Heim, who will be the Special Representative of the Austrian OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transnistrian Settlement Process in 2017, and wished success to him.