Europe

Europe

Moldovan PM hails resumption of negotiations on Transnistria

22 September 2011 18:46 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Moldova’s Prime Minister Vlad Filat on Thursday hailed the resumption of the negotiations in Moscow on settling the Transnistrian conflict, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Filat, who arrived Wednesday in Bucharest for a two-day visit, made the remarks when meeting with his Romanian counterpart Emil Boc.

"Finally today, after five years, after a consolidated effort, we have managed to start official negotiations in the 5+2 format with a view to settling the Transnistrian conflict," said Filat.

Transnistria, a largely Russian-and Ukrainian-speaking area, declared independence from the Romanian-speaking majority of Moldova, but its move has never been recognized internationally.

Boc also voiced joy for "the good news" and congratulated Filat for sticking to and speeding up the country’s European route.

Consultations in Moscow on Thursday ended with a joint declaration stipulating the resumption of official negotiations in the 5+2 format which included, besides authorities in Chisinau and in Tiraspol, Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe as mediators and the United States and the European Union are observers.

The next meeting is scheduled for the end of this year.

The 5+2 negotiation format came to an end in 2006, several months after they were initiated, after Chisinau and Tiraspol failed to agree on various matters. Several attempts to resume the talks have since failed.