Tiraspol, 6 April. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The delegation of mediators and observers in the 5+2 negotiation process visited Pridnestrovie. An invitation to the international partners was sent as early as 21 December 2016 after Moldova and Ukraine had introduced a discriminatory scheme of transporting import cargoes by rail.
On 5 April the representatives of the OSCE, Russia, Ukraine, the USA and the EU visited Kishinev, and today the foreign diplomats met Pridnestrovian President Yevgeny Shevchuk and Supreme Council deputies. Following the visit of mediators and observers the minister of foreign affairs held a briefing fo the media at which he told journalists about the issues which were on the agenda.
«Aimed» at negotiating
According to Vitaly Ignatyev, the aim of the foreign guests' visit was to study the state of relations between Moldova and Pridnestrovie. The diplomat stated that there are currently downward trends. «The aim of the visit lies on the surface: it is the current situation in the negotiation process, in a dialogue between Pridnestrovie and Moldova, which, in our view, is facing difficulties," noted the minister.
Vitaly Ignatyev recalled that the last 5+2 format talks took place back in the summer of 2014, the work of expert groups has been stalling, some expert groups do not meet, and those groups that did hold meetings have not come to agreement on pressing issues. The political representatives of the sides have met one-to-one only twice this year, the last meeting taking place on 18 March. Vitaly Ignatyev has not received an invitation from his Moldovan counterpart, vice premier Gheorghe Balan, to hold a new round of negotiations, although the sides earlier agreed to meet once a week or every two weeks.
«Of course, it [mediators and observers' visit] was determined by a number of issues amassed in our relations, the deterioration of the situation caused by Moldova's unilateral actions, including the initiation of criminal proceedings, strengthening of economic, transport, infrastructure, logistic pressure on Pridnestrovie," underscored the minister.
Pridnestrovie's position has always been rational
According to Vitaly Ignatyev, the mediators and observers were briefed on Pridnestrovie's position, which was voiced more than once before and has not changed since then. «Our position lies in the need for substantive, informative and painstaking work to solve as soon as possible the whole set of problems amassed in relations between the sides," underscored the diplomat.
The Pridnestrovian side told the mediators and observers that it is the issue relating to unilateral pressure on Pridnestrovie that should be solved in the first line. «Our main message is to show there must be concrete documents and agreements to perform substantive work and make decisions to the benefit Pridnestrovian and Moldovan citizens," said the minister.
The proposals are prepared
Pridnestrovie has drafted concrete proposals for the regulation of existing problems, solutions and agreements on various issues and, according to Vitaly Ignatyev, have already presented them to the Moldovan side. «We have put forward the whole package of concrete agreements, which are now on the negotiating table, at the level of expert working groups," the MFA's head noted. According to Vitaly Ignatyev, Moldovan experts have been studying for over two months already a mechanism of settling the whole range of motor transport problems, worked out by Pridnestrovie. «This refers to cargo transportation, private vehicles, and ultimately may have positive influence on the opening of a bridge between Gura Bicului and Bychok villages," said the diplomat.
It is recalled that the whole sector of the Pridnestrovian economy related to transport services has virtually vanished because Moldova stopped issuing approval documents to Pridnestrovian transporters 10 years ago.
Also, according to Vitaly Ignatyev, the Moldovan side does not respond to calls to work out jointly the solution to pressing issues, such as politically motivated criminal charges against the PMR's public officials, businesspersons and ordinary citizens, and coordinate a mechanism of bringing home those Pridnestrovians who were deported from Kishinev airport. «We haven't heard Moldova's position so far," said Vitaly Ignatyev.
The diplomat specially noted that Pridnestrovie had also worked out a solution to the railway issue, but it drew rather a peculiar response from Moldovan negotiators.
«We proposed an additional protocol and a technological scheme enabling us to fully realise the railway's potential and eliminate all the negative implications resulted from unilateral actions by Moldova and Ukraine," noted Vitaly Ignatyev.
It is recalled that in December 2015 Moldova and Ukraine made a unilateral decision to change the scheme of supplying goods to Pridnestrovie, almost excluding the PMR's rolling stock from this process. As a result, the country's economic agents cannot receive their goods via Kuchurgan-export and Slobodka-export stations and besides have to pay expensive services by Molodvan transporters. According to economists' estimates, Pridnestrovie's annual losses will total $4.5 million.
«Instead of discussing Pridnestrovie's package proposal, including the technological scheme, our Moldovan partners suggested we should completely resign the Pridnestrovian railway and include it in the Moldovan railway," said Vitaly Ignatyev. If this is their understanding of a constructive approach within the negotiation process, our understandings are categorically different," he added.
Expectations coincide, it is time to convert declarations and statements into concrete results
According to Vitaly Ignatyev, Prisnestrovie's expectations and those of the mediators and observers are very much alike. «What we expect is achieving concrete solutions and overcoming a long period of the stagnation in the political dialogue. Our partners also declared that they are not interested in meeting 'for meetings' sake', that they need results," noted the diplomat.
Vitaly Ignatyev underscored that taking account of the number of draft solutions and agreements on the negotiating table, this result may well be achieved, the main thing is to get down to substantive work. «It is necessary to convert the declarations voiced many times by all the participants into concrete results," he said. «These results, concrete achievements will promote the very atmosphere of trust and positive negotiation dynamics," he added.
Authority persuades
Speaking about expectations of meeting results, Vitaly Ignatyev stated that Pridnestrovie hopes that the mediators and observers will persuade Moldova and Ukraine to abandon their discriminatory measures and restrictive actions against the PMR. «We expect the authority of our mediators and observers to persuade the Moldovan side to drop the whole range of unilateral restrictive measures taken against Pridnestrovie," said Vitaly Ignatyev.
According to the diplomat, this concerns both the criminal prosecution of Pridnestrovians, which, unfortunately, resembles an avalanche, and psychological pressure on the Pridnestrovian citizens travelling via Kishinev airport and a decision to establish joint Moldo-Ukrainian control on the Pridnestrovian-Ukrainian border.
«Our primary aim is to abandon any unilateral actions which hinder the dialogue and have adverse influence on the population," emphasised the minister.
Off the record
Answering a question about the actions taken by the observers and mediators to boost the dialogue between Moldova and Pridnestrovie and channel it towards constructive ends, Vitaly Ignatyev particularly singled out considerable efforts made by the Russian Federation.
«In the mid of March, the Russian representative in the negotiation process proposed his vision of further steps normalising the dialogue. These non-paper proposal has been carefully studied by the negotiation participants," said the minister.
According to Vitaly Ignatyev, one of the most important items of the Russian diplomat's proposal is to work out a guarantee mechanism which would secure the fulfilment of commitments made by the sides. «The negotiation process, which has been under way since 1994, comprises about a hundred agreements, the majority of which are not adhered to by the Moldovan side," noted the Pridnestrovian diplomat.
The Russian proposal also provides for the renunciation of any restrictive actions which could damage relations between the sides. «Besides, this also includes a moratorium on the initiation of politically motivated criminal proceedings," added the minister.
He recalled that earlier Moldova admitted the existence of this issue. Back in 2013 the protocol note was made at a 5+2 meeting that this issue needed resolving. However, in March 2016, following his meeting with Vitaly Ignatyev, the Moldovan negotiator, Gheorghe Balan, said that Moldovan law enforcers had never initiated any politically motivated criminal cases.
Nothing is agreed
Summing up the meeting, Vitaly Ignatyev noted that despite commitments made by Moldova and Pridnestrovie to prepare already agreed drafts of concrete solutions enhancing the life of the citizens of both states, this has not been done as Moldova did not see fit to discuss constructively any of the above-mentioned projects.
