GRIGORY KARASIN SAYS CHISINAU AND TIRASPOL SHOULD NOT HURRY

Chisinau and Tiraspol should be advancing to the Transnistrian conflict settlement step by step and without haste, believes Russia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs – State Secretary Grigory Karasin.

In his interview with Russia’s national Izvestia daily paper, the diplomat said Moldova is insisting that the conflict sides should conclude an agreement on guarantees of the fulfillment of accords they reach. Karasin reminded that the Russian side put forward the draft of such document at the Berlin meeting of 5+2 negotiators in June 2016. So, now is precisely a good time to bring the question to a logical end, particularly with an account of the accords achieved at the last weeks’ 5+2 format meeting held in Vienna, believes Grigory Karasin.

“On the results of the Vienna meeting (which was, unfortunately, the only one during the whole year of the Austrian OSCE Presidency) the parties signed a protocol thus paving a way towards further advancement in the small-steps tactics. Most of the accords signed bear the framework character. So, it is important to follow how they will be put into life and if no artificial obstacles appear. In this connection, it is becoming particularly topical to handle the Russian proposal for Chisinau and Tiraspol to conclude an agreement on guarantees of realization of accords reached”, said Grigory Karasin.

The Deputy Minister reminded that in 2016 the parties signed a protocol by which they undertook to resolve a number of questions of practical interaction between the Dniester/Nistru River sides, “but due to Chisinau’s tough position, there was no progress in that field”.

Grigory Karasin believes that a fresh impulse to the negotiation process was given by the meetings held between Moldovan President Igor Dodon and Transnistria president Vadim Krasnoselsky last January and March.

“Their dialog permitted the parties to analyze on the top level the practical problems existing in the relationship of the sides and to outline ways of their solution. After that, Tiraspol made steps towards Chisinau – closed down unilaterally 10 criminal litigations against Moldovan policemen in Bendery city, facilitated the activities of the Latin-script Moldova-administered schools in Transnistria. Besides that, some progress was achieved on the problem of using private farmlands by Moldovan farmers in Transnistria-controlled localities”, said Grigory Karasin.

In his words, now 4 new agreements were signed, and the Gura Bicului/Bicioc Bridge across the Dniester/Nistru River was opened.

The Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs believes that now the main objective is to avoid the feeling of euphoria due to the achieved results and to focus on a thorough and efficient work to implement the achieved accords.