Tiraspol, 7 December. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The OSCE ministerial statement on the negotiations on the Transdniestrian settlement process in the «5+2» format is an ordinary document. Almost every participant state drafts such statements in the run-up to the annual OSCE ministerial council (MC), said political expert Sergey Shirokov in the Vovremya. Itogi TV show on First Pridnestrovian Channel.
«Every participant can propose its own statement on an existing issue. Russia proposed an anti-terror statement, and it is clear and evident that Moldova proposes at each council its own statement providing for these very items," said the expert.
He noted that Moldova's earlier attempts to have this statement passed by the OSCE MC had always been blocked by some countries, but that time, having found no apparent risks in the document, they had decided to adopt it as a diplomatic reverence. «This time Russia or other colleagues considered this statement safe and regardless. They have done Kishinev a diplomatic favour," said the expert.
The deputy foreign minister, Dmitry Palamarchuk, who also appeared in the show, said the statement had two new provisions. «There has appeared a fresh wording that the sides should engage in the negotiation process without interruption and should be represented by fully empowered political representatives," said the diplomat.
This item, according to the deputy minister, is «an own goal» for Moldova. Moldovas's chief negotiatior Victor Osipov refuses to hold 1+1 meetings with the acting foreign minister, Vitaly Ignatyev, referring to the uncertainty of his status as there is no established government in Moldova.
The mandate of the chief negotiator, however, is not directly dependent on the country's political rearrangements. So, the position that Moldova's arguments do not stand up to criticism and that was earlier supported by the OSCE special representative, Radojko Bogojević, has now been confirmed in the OSCE official statement.
