On August 16, Chief Negotiators Vitaly Ignatiev and Oleg Serebrian met online in the presence of mediators and observers.
Opening the discussion, Vitaly Ignatiev expressed his concern about the pause in the 1+1 meetings and in the activities of relevant expert (working) groups. He stated that the situation in the negotiations has been deteriorating on account of Moldova’s unilateral actions.
At the initiative of the Pridnestrovian side, the most urgent problematic aspects between the sides were discussed, mostly fixed in the framework of the Berlin+ package of agreements.
Healthcare was one of the central topics of the dialogue. Vitaly Ignatiev pointed to the draft decision developed by relevant experts of the sides. This decision could somewhat mitigate the problem and ensure the importation of a significant range of medicines to Pridnestrovie within the existing need. He stressed that, in spite of the assurances, the decision agreed upon by the experts has not yet been implemented by the Moldovan side. In turn, Oleg Serebrian took the most destructive position on this matter, involving an attempt to revise the existing preliminary agreements and to impose unjustified political conditions in the context of importing medicines to Pridnestrovie. The sides agreed to hold a meeting of Political Representatives by the end of August with the participation of expert (working) groups on health issues, as well as pharmaceutical importers, in order to eliminate the discrepancies in interpreting the content of the work carried out earlier.
Vitaly Ignatiev condemned the decision taken by Moldova last week to prohibit the import of plant protection products (fertilizers) not included in the register of authorized PPPs in Moldova after September 1. The diplomat urged to reconsider these unreasoned restrictions in the interests of agricultural producers amid the complex food security environment and drought.
Answering the Pridnestrovian side’s question regarding the current situation in the field of telecommunications and the implementation of the 2017 agreement within the Berlin+ package, the Moldovan side had difficulty providing specific information citing the meeting of expert (working) groups on telecommunications and postal services planned for the next day.
Regarding the problem of vehicles and the VROs’ activity, Vitaly Ignatiev emphasized the need for the speedy resolution in order to return illegally seized Pridnestrovian license plate blanks, as well to extend the mechanism agreed upon in April 2018 after September 1 of this year.
The Pridnestrovian diplomat also pointed to the need to implement the pre-agreed mechanism for the conversion of excessive lei for use in importing in-demand goods to Pridnestrovie and to eliminate other banking problems.
In light of the issues raised by the Moldovan side on the functioning of the Romanian schools and the land use in the Dubossary district of Pridnestrovie, Vitaly Ignatiev urged to return in the shortest time possible to the practice of joint inspections in the above institutions, which was established back in 2014, and called upon the Republic of Moldova to implement paragraph 5 of the Protocol Decision on the Land Use regarding the termination of criminal cases.
In the context of criminal cases against public officials, the Pridnestrovian Political Representative also stated unacceptability of the situations with the former Pridnestrovian policeman Andrei Samonii, who is in custody on false charges, and with the criminal prosecution of the PMR prosecutor, as announced by some Moldovan media outlets.
Moldova’s unfounded unilateral restrictions against Pridnestrovian officials who cross the state border of the Republic of Moldova, including at the Chisinau airport, were discussed in detail. As Vitaly Ignatiev said, it is not clear which categories of persons this decision is applicable to, and pointed to numerous interrogations, inspections and psychological pressure on Pridnestrovian officials when they cross the Moldovan border for personal (non-official) purposes. The diplomat called for a review of the politicized restrictions and a return to the faithful performance of the September 2019 Gentleman’s Agreement reached through an exchange of letters under the guarantees of the Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, since the existing restrictions provoke mutual mistrust and tension.
Given the lack of in-demand solutions and the deteriorating situation in the negotiations, Vitaly Ignatiev separately mentioned the Moldovan authorities’ ongoing refusal to hold meetings to discuss pertinent issues within the negotiation process, to which the Pridnestrovian leadership had repeatedly invited through official letters.
Responding to some destructive and short-sighted remarks made by his Moldovan counterpart both during the meeting and in recent interviews, the Political Representative of Pridnestrovie stated that any issues can only be solved through reaching agreements and compromises. Any unilateral attempts to impose jurisdiction, ultimatums, restrictions and pressure devalue the role of the Moldovan Political Representative as such, lead to tension and conflict, and are harmful. The priority should be given to socio-economic aspects and implementation of agreements.
