The authorities of the Moldavian breakaway region of Transdnestr do not want the EU and the United States to mediate settlement efforts in the area, Transdnestr Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Yastrebchak said on Thursday.
The EU and the United States currently hold observer status in the Transnestr settlement talks, which have been frozen since February 2006. Russia, Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Transnesdr are mediators in the negotiations. Consultations between the parties are held periodically.
During a meeting in Vienna on September 27-28, Moldova's Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Issues Victor Osipov suggested giving the EU and United States mediator status.
"There are no objective and legal premises for changing the status [of the EU and United States]," Yastrebchak said.
The Russian-speaking province of Transdnestr has maintained de facto independence from Moldova since a brief war in 1992, which erupted from a buildup of tensions following the breakup of the Soviet Union.
The peacekeeping operation in the region is carried out by the Collective Peacekeeping Forces (CPF), comprising of 402 Russian troops, 492 Transdnestrian troops, 355 Moldovan troops and 10 Ukrainian observers.
TIRASPOL, September 30 (RIA Novosti)
