Tiraspol, February 3. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Foreign Minister Vitaly Ignatiev met with Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Thomas Mayr-Harting at the Foreign Ministry. According to the press service of the PMR MFA, the meeting was also attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to the Republic of Moldova Bartolomej Zdanyuk and the Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Claus Neukirch.
Opening the meeting, Vitaly Ignatiev noted the Pridnestrovian side`s focus on a systematic and progressive dialogue, which involves the signing and implementation of agreements. According to him, the point of the negotiations is to relieve socio-economic tensions, focusing on protecting the interests of people.
At Thomas Mayr-Harting`s initiative, the issue of the work plan was raised within the framework of the negotiation process for the medium term, including holding a meeting in the 5 + 2 format. Vitaly Ignatiev confirmed his readiness for regular meetings with the Representative for political issues from the Republic of Moldova and his interest in the rhythmic work of all negotiation process existing mechanisms.
The Head of the PMR Foreign Ministry also stressed that the need to fulfill the agreements within the framework of the Berlin Plus agreement was the basis of the dialogue agenda at any level of the negotiation process. Thomas Mayr-Harting noted that his discussions in Chisinau and Tiraspol had confirmed the fundamental readiness of both sides to concentrate on the Berlin Plus agreement in the coming weeks and months. In particular, considerable attention during the meeting was paid to the following issues: telecommunications, banking problems, transport blockade. The PMR Foreign Minister stressed the need for the early return of illegally detained Pridnestrovian shipment, including blanks for Pridnestrovian license plates, which will allow unblocking vehicle registration points` activities.
At the same time, Vitaly Ignatiev noted the lack of openness of the Moldovan side and, on the contrary, the systematic implementation of the “small-unit tactics” against Pridnestrovie. In particular, there were mentioned problems of criminal cases initiated against officials, in-depth searches and interrogations when crossing the Republic of Moldova border, administrative and informational pressure on individual Pridnestrovian enterprises.
At the request of the OSCE representatives, the PMR Foreign Minister informed in detail about the position of the Pridnestrovian side regarding the land use mechanism in the Dubossary Region of Pridnestrovie and about a wide range of problems arising in the context of the threat of a possible launch of the second phase of a politicized project on joint customs and border control at the Kuchurgan checkpoint from July 1.
Such an important area as human rights was also touched upon. The interlocutors agreed that that topic cut across the whole range of topical issues of the negotiation process.
The representatives of the Polish Presidency have indicated their interest in maintaining regional stability and making positive progress on the humanitarian agenda during this year.
