TRANSNISTRIAN CONFLICT WILL NOT RESOLVE AS IF BY MAGIC, OSCE CIO SAYS

The Transnistrian conflict settlement process will not resolve as if by a miracle in one day, believes the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Slovakia’s Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajcak.

The diplomatic said at the press briefing in Chisinau that negotiation parties should concentrate on small steps that would ensure their movement forward, and should build the dialog based on mutual trust.

Reviewing the achievements gained in the negotiation job lately, Miroslav Lajcak mentioned the re-opening of the war-damaged Gura Bicului/Bicioc Bridge; resolution of problems around the Latin-script Moldova-administered schools in Transnistria; provision of Moldovan farmers with an access to their private lands in disputable territories; provision of Transnistrian motor vehicles with neutral-design license plates enabling them to participate in international road traffic.

He voiced gratitude to the Moldovan authorities for their efforts that had led to those results.

Miroslav Lajcak said that in his meetings here with the Moldovan President, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, the parties discussed concrete steps to be made in the conflict settlement process.

“Now is a favorable moment for this: the process has acquired dynamism, and it should be developed further. Ultimately, the parties should arrive at a conflict settlement solution that would meet the principles of the Republic of Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, with provision of a special legal status for the Transnistrian region”, said the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.

Moldova’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Tudor Ulianovschi thanked Miroslav Lajcak for coming to the republic “in a moment critical for the OSCE caused by a strained international situation”.

“We hope for the support of the Slovakian OSCE Presidency in the Transnistrian conflict settlement process, in particular on the question of Russian troop withdrawal and converting of the current peacekeeping operation into an international civilian mission. Also, it is necessary to carry our international inspecting of the Russian ammunition warehouses in the Kolbasna village [in Transnistria], which, while remaining in the shade of negotiations, are gradually developing into a real threat for Moldova and for region as a whole. I am convinced that in the current year we will concentrate our joint efforts and will achieve a further invigoration of the conflict settlement dialog”, said Minister Tudor Ulianovschi.