MOLDPRES

01 February 2010

CHISINAU -- "The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe continues to be an important forum for dialogue in our efforts to integrate our state," Parliament Speaker and acting President Mihai Ghimpu said at a today's meeting with a special representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office for protracted conflicts, Bolat Nurgaliev, the parliament's media relations department has said.

President Mihai Ghimpu praised the role of the OSCE and its mission in Moldova as mediator and reliable partner in the process of settling the Transnistrian conflict.

Mihai Ghimpu firmly spoke out for the resumption of negotiations in the 5+2 format, as well as for the fulfillment of the commitments taken at the 1999 Istanbul OSCE Summit concerning the complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Russian troops and weaponry from Moldova. "The Transnistrian region's democratization and demilitarization are the necessary and indispensable pre-requisites for the final settlement of the conflict, and we want a more active involvement of the OSCE, the EU and the USA to achieve this goal," Mihai Ghimpu said.

At the same time, the Moldovan acting president insisted that the Kazakh OSCE chairmanship, along with the other participants in the settlement process promote the initiative of turning the present peacekeeping operation in the region into a multinational civil mission under international mandate.

A recent visit to Moldova by the Group for Moldova of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, led by Swedish MP Walburga Habsburg Douglas, showed the OSCE s increased interest in the Transnistrian settlement. President Mihai Ghimpu backed the initiative to organize consultations of the participants in the 5+2 negotiations in Vienna on 1-2 March 2010.

The acting president voiced hope that the Kazakh OSCE chairmanship, taken over on 1 January 2010, would contribute to promoting dialogue on the Transnistrian issue. Mihai Ghimpu welcomed the intention of OSCE Chairman-in-office, Kazakh Foreign Minister, Secretary of State Kanat Saudabayev to visit Moldova in the near future.