The Serbian diplomat made a final visit to Pridnestrovie in his capacity as Special Representative of the OSCE
The Foreign Ministry hosted a meeting of Acting Foreign Minister of the PMR Vitaly Ignatiev with the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Radojko Bogojević. The meeting was also attended by Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Michael Scanlan.
Vitaly Ignatiev, welcoming the guests, said that the Pridnestrovian side thinks that the interaction with the representative of the mediator in the “5+2” format is very significant, especially in the context of the fact that today at all levels of the negotiation process there are a number of complex issues.
During the meeting, the Head of the Pridnestrovian MFA noted the positive results of the Conference on confidence-building measures held on October 29-30 in Rottach-Egern, where Pridnestrovie and Moldova’s experts had the opportunity to openly discuss the acute problematic issues. At the same time, the Head of the Foreign Ministry said that since the end of the Conference the Moldovan side has kept away from interaction with Pridnestrovie.
“Mr. Osipov, referring to the absence of government in Moldova, refuses to hold meetings in the “1+1” format, the dynamics of meetings of expert (working) groups are also extremely low. A number of initiatives of Pridnestrovie to hold meetings of experts in the field of transport, railway communication, cancellation of criminal cases remained unanswered by the Moldovan side,” - said Vitaly Ignatiev at a briefing for the media after the meeting.
The diplomat also noted that the Moldovan side’s arguments regarding the absence of formed government in the RM do not hold up against criticism. A similar opinion was also expressed during the meeting by Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Radojko Bogojević. “We gained understanding with our colleagues from the OSCE that the status of political representative does not depend on internal political processes, and the issues that we must solve, the responsibility that is laid on me and Mr. Osipov in the framework of the agreements of the negotiation process, should be implemented systematically and consistently,” - said Vitaly Ignatiev. Radojko Bogojević, in his turn, stressed that dialogue is the only way to effective cooperation between the parties, and the “5+2”, “1+1” formats, meetings of the working groups are equally important for the resolution of existing problems”.
The problem of politically motivated prosecutions of citizens of Pridnestrovie in Moldova was one of the main topics of discussion in the course of the meeting. “The Pridnestrovian side once again stressed the need for the release of the Pridnestrovian militiaman as soon as possible, who has been for more than four months in prison in Athens. We addressed to the OSCE Chairmanship a request to assist in solving this problem, in particular, to promote the organization of a visit of the Commissioner for Human Rights in Pridnestrovie to the detainee,” - said the Head of the Foreign Ministry of the PMR in the framework of communication with journalists.
The decision of Moldova and Ukraine on setting joint customs and border control on the Pridnestrovian-Ukrainian border was the subject of discussion at the meeting. It was emphasized that the Pridnestrovian side perceives this step as a unilateral decision taken outside the negotiating process. Vitaly Ignatiev said that these destructive decisions do not lead to the formation of an atmosphere of trust, but rather “create a whole range of other problems”. “We have tried to inform Mr. Bogojević about possible negative consequences of this measure. We also appealed to the Chairmanship with a request to assist in the suspension of the implementation of this unilateral decision, because it does not correlate with agreements as part of the “5+2” format, and with those goals that it has. We hope that the OSCE partners have heard our arguments,” - the diplomat said.
Commenting on the issue, Radojko Bogojević stressed that “the OSCE does not welcome unilateral measures from which one should refrain in the negotiations”. The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office also announced the proposal to hold an official round of negotiations in the “5+2” format in Belgrade on December 1.
In the course of the meeting, Vitaly Ignatiev called on the OSCE to actively engage in the settlement of the existing problem areas, especially in the area of politically-motivated prosecutions and unilateral decision of Moldova and Ukraine on the organization of joint customs and border control on the Pridnestrovian-Ukrainian border. He expressed the view that the OSCE has a considerable number of instruments to contribute positively to the settlement of these issues. The Head of Foreign Ministry mentioned as an example the moratorium introduced by the Moldovan side on the ban for Pridnestrovian vehicles to cross the Moldovan-Ukrainian border. “It is no secret that the decision was taken with the active assistance of the guarantors and mediators, including the OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office. This means that, in fact, the capacity and resources of the OSCE are very substantial, and in certain cases they help the parties to move forward and find solutions to problematic issues”, - emphasized the diplomat.
Vitaly Ignatiev gave Radojko Bogojević an official invitation to take part in the international Pridnestrovian-Serbian conference to be held in Tiraspol on November 26.
