A meeting took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between Minister of Foreign Affairs Vitaly Ignatiev and Thomas Lenk, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. Izabela Sylwia Hartmann, Acting Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, also participated in the discussion.
During the conversation, Vitaly Ignatiev highlighted the current destructive trends in the Moldova-Pridnestrovie settlement process. He noted that the Moldovan side lacks the political will to engage in a civilized dialogue with Pridnestrovie. According to him, Chisinau is not investing in the negotiations, turning them into a mere proclamation of slogans without practical results, and through its unilateral actions is “cementing the wall” between the two states.
The minister drew particular attention to the Moldovan side’s tendency to politicize even the most basic social and humanitarian issues, citing as an example its refusal to sign the Draft Protocol Decision, agreed upon by relevant experts, on the mechanism for returning children found without legal guardians to their permanent place of residence. He also noted attempts by the Moldovan side to steer the dialogue toward unsuitable propaganda initiatives, put forward solely for the sake of political PR and offering no real benefits.
The PMR Foreign Minister reiterated the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic’s readiness to discuss any issues at the negotiating table. It was emphasized that Pridnestrovie has a package of proposals in various areas aimed at normalizing interaction between the parties and resolving specific problems in the interests of the people. The diplomat spoke out against the Moldovan side’s imitation of dialogue and called for a shift in approaches to international mediation toward greater involvement and activity on the part of mediators. In this context, he addressed questions to OSCE representatives regarding the Swiss Chairpersonship’s plans to hold events and implement other steps within the framework of the negotiation process this year.
At the conclusion of the discussion, the parties agreed to continue working contacts across the entire spectrum of current areas of cooperation.
