The diplomat visited Pridnestrovie for the first time in the framework of the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship.
The Foreign Ministry hosted a meeting of Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PMR Vitaly Ignatiev with the OSCE delegation headed by the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Wolf Dietrich Heim. The meeting was also attended by the Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Michael Scanlan.
During the meeting the sides exchanged views on some aspects of the ongoing negotiation process between Pridnestrovie and the Republic of Moldova. Welcoming the guest, Vitaly Ignatiev pointed out that the first visit of Wolf Dietrich Heim was taking place as early as January that gives hope for a high rate of cooperation with the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship this year. “We have a complex multi-level mechanism of international negotiations at our disposal and we hope that the Austrian Chairmanship will give some positive momentum for the full achievement of objectives” –the Foreign Minister of the PMR said, stressing that the Pridnestrovian side is interested in resolving social, humanitarian and economic problems, which worsen the situation of citizens.
During the meeting, Vitaly Ignatiev noted that the efforts of the German OSCE Chairmanship in 2016 made it possible to activate the negotiation process to a certain extent and, among others, to sign the Berlin Protocol. The diplomat stated that the document had fixed “a specific set of problematic issues, which require prompt resolution” but the agenda of the dialogue between Pridnestrovie and the Republic of Moldova has a significant number of other chronic problems.
“The Pridnestrovian side is ready for the most effective and substantive work over the whole range of issues in the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian settlement. We need to solve many issues on the negations agenda, as these issues affect people’s lives both in Pridnestrovie and in Moldova” – stated Vitaly Ignatiev.
Wolf Dietrich Heim, in his turn, expressed hope that 2017 “will be filled with substantive work and real achievements in the negotiations”. “We do see that our success will be based on collective effort of all partners in the 5+2 format and in some respect beyond the format if we try to implement what we see as agreeable” – he said.
The diplomat also informed about the planned visit of Sebastian Kurz, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Austrian Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, to Moldova and Pridnestrovie in the next two weeks, which, according to Wolf Dietrich Heim, indicates high attention to the negotiation process on the part of the 2017 OSCE Chairmanship.
Following the meeting, Vitaly Ignatiev and Wolf Dietrich Heim answered journalists’ questions.
