​OSCE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE WANTS TO FOCUS ON SOLVING CITIZENS’ VITAL PROBLEMS

The Special Representative of the Austrian OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transnistrian Settlement Process, Ambassador Wolf Dietrich Heim, believes that Transnistria settlement stakeholders should concentrate efforts on resolving the vital problems faced by the residents of both sides of the Dniester, he stated in the course of his meeting with Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip in Chisinau on Wednesday.

The diplomat reaffirmed the OSCE’s readiness to proceed with efforts to resolve the Transnistrian problem in the 5+2 negotiating format on the basis of a result-oriented approach.

The Moldovan Premier also believes it is correct to begin from minor problems so as to eventually reach major ones such as e.g. security in this region of Europe and a special legal status for Transnistria within a territorially integral and indivisible Republic of Moldova.

Pavel Filip welcomed Wolf Dietrich Heim’s visit to Chisinau and the soon-to-be coming of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration Sebastian Kurz.

“We perceive this as an indication of the importance the Austrian OSCE presidency is attaching to the Transnistrian negotiating process”, said the Moldovan Prime Minister.

Pavel Filip expressed gratitude to the previous, German OSCE presidency in 2016 for its efficiency in restarting of the 5+2 format negotiations after a 2-year pause.

Wolf Dietrich Heim met also with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Lilian Darii and emphasized the firm commitment of the Austrian OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to promote the invigoration of the Transnistria negotiations and confidence-building measures aimed at achieving a comprehensive solution to the Transnistrian problem on the basis of observance of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova with working out a special legal status for the Transnistrian region.

On Thursday, Ambassador Wolf Dietrich Heim will visit Tiraspol to meet with the leadership of the unrecognized Transnistrian republic, and on Friday will appear at a news conference in Chisinau to sum up the results of his 3-day visit to the Republic of Moldova.