Moldovan Speaker meets OSCE ambassadors in Chisinau

November 13, 2006

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Moldovan Parliament Speaker Marian Lupu has had a meeting with a delegation of OSCE ambassadors, who are paying a fact-collecting visit to Moldova, according to the parliament's press and image service.

Lupu voiced hope that the OSCE delegation's visit to Moldova in such a representative composition will help the OSCE member states to get a genuine image about the situation in Moldova, particularly, the Transnistrian conflict settlement process.

The speaker reiterated the Moldovan parliament's position on the Transnistrian settlement process, and stressed the need to solve the conflict by peaceful means, through dialogue and constructive negotiations and by observing the principles of Moldova's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"The Moldovan parliament regards as extremely important the international community's stance on the issue, and the OSCE represents an important partner in the process of finding a viable solution to the Transnistrian conflict," Lupu said.

Photo: Moldpres

Lupu informed the OSCE officials that the stance of all the Moldovan political forces is included in the document adopted in the beginning of the first session of the current convocation. Lupu said the Declaration on the political partnership for the achievement of the European integration objectives, which sets the European integration and the territorial integration as strategic goals for Moldova, both on the domestic and foreign plan, was unanimously voted by the parliamentary factions, despite other political divergences.

The speaker informed the OSCE officials that the Moldovan parliament's position on the Transnistrian conflict was expressed very eloquently in July 2005, when the Moldovan MPs unanimously voted the Declaration on Ukraine's initiative on the Transnistrian conflict settlement, the appeals for democratizing and demilitarising the Transnistrian region of Moldova, and the Law on the main provisions of the special juridical status of the settlements from the left bank of Dniestre.

"We appreciate the international community's political, financial and technical assistance offered through the decision to set the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine, which activities have proved to be effective. Moldova has created a simplified system for registering the Transnistrian economic agents. Over 240 Transnistrian enterprises have been registered with the Chisinau competent bodies so far. The Moldovan authorities extended the period for the Transnistrian enterprises' registration up to 1 January 2007, but we are ready to extend it if necessary," the speaker said.

Lupu thanked the international partners for having not recognized the outcomes of the so-called referendum organized by the self-proclaimed Tiraspol administration on 17 September 2006. We appreciate the international organization's firm support for Moldova's stance on the issue. The results of the so-called referendum cannot be taken into account given that the Transnistrian region has no democratic elements for the existence of free media outlets, independent non-governmental organizations, and that the society from the left bank of Dniestre has been aggressively misinformed for more than one decade," the speaker said.

At the same time, Lupu reiterated the need to change the current peacekeeping format by replacing it with a mission of civil and military observers under international mandate. The speaker highlighted the importance to withdraw the stock of ammunition from the Transnistrian region in line with the commitments the Russian Federation assumed within the OSCE meetings. Lupu underlined that Moldova will keep the status of neutrality, which, is an argument in favour of the Transnistrian conflict's viable settlement and does not run counter to Moldova's efforts of European integration.

"The Moldovan parliament speaks for normalizing the relations between the two banks of Dniestre. Projects aimed at contributing to the social and economic reintegration of the two banks of Dniestre are extremely necessary and welcome. The Transnistrian conflict is not a national, ethnic or religious conflict; it rather has an ideological character. Therefore, it is essential to identify a viable settlement model, which would contribute to the conflict's final settlement and strengthen the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The ambassadors accredited to the OSCE underlined the Moldovan parliament's important and constructive role in the process of identifying a viable solution to the Transnistrian conflict. At the same time, the OSCE officials said that increasing Moldova's attractiveness for the Transnistrian residents and the country's democratic transformation would be a positive element to this end. The officials approached aspects related to the creation of an attractive legislative framework necessary to woo important foreign investments in Moldova's strategic fields. // Moldpres

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