MOLDOVA AND TRANSNISTRIA HAVE POLITICAL WILL FOR RESOLVING CONFLICT SETTLEMENT QUESTIONS - CLAUS NEUKIRCH

The successes achieved in the Transnistrian conflict settlement process in 2018 proves that both the Moldovan and the Transnistrian sides have a necessary political will for resolving questions of the conflict settlement, believes Ambassador Claus Neukirch, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova.

He said today at the Annual Moldovan European Integration Forum in Chisinau organized by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung foundation that a proof to this are the 'small steps' made in 2018. The diplomat reminded that out of the 6 tasks set by the sides, five have already been fulfilled, and the 6th one - restoration of the stationary telephony between the Dniester River sides - has been at its final stage.

"The purpose of the negotiation process is clear - to confirm the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova with provision of a special legal status for Transnistria. And in realization of this task, the policy of small steps is important, for subsequently it will lead to a larger-scale progress", said the OSCE Mission Head.

In his words, at the present moment the sides are not yet ready to negotiate the legal status question.

"But the consolidation of trust achieved in the negotiation process is the basis for a would-be conflict settlement. The progress in dialog will be marked and fixed at the meeting of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers to be held in Milan on December 6-7. Exactly on the basis of the small-step achievements the sides will be building their further policy of conflict settlement - after the Moldovan parliamentary election next February", stated the OSCE Mission Head Claus Neukirch confidently.