Today, the Foreign Ministry hosted a meeting between the PMR Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vitaly Ignatiev, and the new Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, Ambassador Kelly Keiderling. The diplomat paid a study visit to Tiraspol leading up to the meeting of the PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky with the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Thomas Mayr-Harting, scheduled for upcoming Monday.
The Foreign Minister assessed the current situation in the negotiation process between Pridnestrovie and the Republic of Moldova, emphasizing the high demand for effective mediation efforts, nowadays. Vitaly Ignatiev stressed the lack of an alternative to dialogue and the willingness to cooperate with the OSCE overall scope of issues. The Minister noted the decreasing dynamics and effectiveness of the negotiation process, as well as the actual refusal of the Moldovan side from high-level dialogue.
Amid the discussion, the parties raised issues related to the import of medicines, food and crop protection agents. They touched upon the freedom of movement for officials, the functioning of vehicle registration offices, the criminal prosecution of Pridnestrovians in the Republic of Moldova, as well as the telecommunications issues.
Vitaly Ignatiev stressed the rejection of Moldova to fulfil most of the agreements reached within the Berlin Plus package, as well as the implementation of decisions previously agreed at the expert level, for example, regarding the import of medicines or the return of the abandoned children.
The interlocutors expressed mutual interest in finding solutions to defuse the situation, to build up confidence and to restore negotiation mechanisms, as well as agreed to maintain continuous communication across the whole range of relevant areas.
