OSCE Chairperson-in-Office welcomes meeting and joint declaration between Moldovan and Transdniestrian leaders

VILNIUS, 22 November 2011 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis, today welcomed the 21 November meeting and joint declaration between Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat and Transdniestrian Leader Igor Smirnov.  The meeting took place at the OSCE Mission to Moldova’s office in Bender.

“The constructive meeting and the declaration that the leaders signed are important steps on the path towards a settlement,” said Ažubalis.  “We appreciate the Sides’ commitment to negotiations in the 5+2 format.  That commitment is making it possible to hold the first official meeting of the 5+2 in nearly six years.  The joint declaration lays a good foundation for that meeting, which I as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office will host in Vilnius at the end of November.”

The 5+2 format - officially, “The Permanent Conference on Political Issues in the Transdniestrian Settlement Process” - consists of the sides, mediators and observers in the negotiations – Moldova, Transdniestria, the OSCE, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the US and the EU.