Tiraspol, 28 November. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. As a result of the "Permanent conference..." in the "5+2" format, which was held in Vienna on 27-28 November, the parties agreed to implement Paragraphs 5 and 6 in 2018, foreign minister Vitaly Ignatyev said during a teleconference with journalists.
These paragraphs deal with the need to resolve the issue of criminal prosecution and work out a mechanism that would ensure the implementation of the agreements reached by the parties.
"I think these are very important and constructive elements of our work, which will not only enable the parties to stabilise the dynamics of the negotiating process but also arrive at new positive decisions that will have a positive effect on people's lives," noted the minister.
Also, according to Vitaly Ignatyev, the parties agreed that further work was needed to resolve the problem of Pridnestrovian vehicles participating in international traffic. The specific mechanism resolving this issue should be agreed by Pridnestrovie and Moldova by the end of February 1918.
All conference participants agreed on the need to focus on socio-economic and humanitarian issues, Ignatyev said. According to him, the agenda also includes issues related to restrictions in the sphere of railway communication and banking.
Another positive result of the meeting was the willingness shown by the participants to steadily participate in the "Permanent Conference..."
"In this regard, I would like to express my deep appreciation to our Russian colleagues and Ukrainian representatives who supported Pridnestrovie's initiative that '5+2' meetings should be held with the consensus of the parties. If the parties want to meet and are ready to solve specific issues, the international partners must accommodate their desire," added Ignatyev.
Earlier, the special representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office, Wolf Dietrich Heim, repeatedly said that the round of international negotiations would be convened only after Moldova and Pridnestrovie reached a preliminary agreement to solve specific issues.
Meanwhile, both Pridnestrovie and Russia, which is a mediator in the negotiations, emphasised their disagreement with this approach. In particular, Russia's ambassador at large Sergey Gubarev underscored that if Moldova and the PMR could negotiate and settle their differences on thorny issues by themselves, there would be no need for international intermediaries. The fallacy of the Austrian position was confirmed by the fact that five agreements had been recently signed at the bilateral level — without Austria's participation.
The last meeting of the "Permanent Conference..." reaffirmed the parties' commitment to solving all problems solely at the negotiating table, avoiding unilateral steps.
"I see the protocol decision, which was signed following the current meeting, as a good practical document of great importance for the solution of problems," concluded the minister.
An example of a unilateral decision, which has not been discussed during negotiations, is the decision of Kiev and Kishinev to establish customs and migration posts at the Pridnestrovian-Ukrainian border. During the meeting, the Pridnestrovian diplomats put forward a position on the inadmissibility of this decision.
