Steinmeier proposes special status for Transnistria
The German Minister for Foreign Affairs called for the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict by granting special status to Transnistria.
The acting chairman-in-office of the OSCE, German Minister for Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, stated the need to resolve the Transnistrian conflict before it escalates further.
“Old conflicts that we call frozen, they aren’t so frozen. There are always risks of these conflicts transitioning into the ‘hot’ stage. We saw it in the case of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. That is why the German OSCE Chairmanship set a task to resolve these frozen conflicts in order to avoid such risks,” Steinmeier stated at the press conference, after meeting with the Prime Minister of Moldova, Pavel Filip.
The Minister called for the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict by providing a special status for Transnistria, while respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Moldova. Steinmeier noted that, although the Transnistrian conflict isn’t escalating, this shouldn’t be reassuring.
“We have to continue these discussions that took place in June in Berlin and continued in July in Bavaria. We should start by resolving simple problems and then move on to more complex [ones],” the Minister for Foreign Affairs said.
As an example, he highlighted the documentation problem for people traveling abroad using diplomas, other educational certificates and the registration numbers of Transnistrian cars issued in Transnistria. Frank-Walter Steinmeier also called for the restoration of traffic on the bridges over the Dniester that still remain closed, restoration of telephone communications between the two banks of Dniester, ensuring the functioning of Moldovan schools in Transnistria, and other issues.
“We have a realistic view of things. The Transnistrian conflict has lasted more than 20 years [and] many problems have accumulated during all this time. We understand that these problems can’t be resolved overnight. However, we should start with small tasks and continue the policy of small, confidence-building measures in order to move on to more difficult and complex issues,” Steinmeier noted.
In response to journalists’ questions about mediators in the negotiations having achieved concessions from Chisinau, Steinmeier said that, after the meeting with Filip, he has no such impression. In June 2016, it was reported that the Moldovan authorities will focus on searching for new solutions to the Transnistrian conflict within a single country, where a special legal status will be granted to the unrecognized Republic.