Moldovan PM Reaffirms Support for Transnistria's Special Status

The Moldovan prime minister said he hoped for finding a sustainable solution to the Transnistria conflict.

KIEV (Sputnik) — Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip spoke Monday in favor of granting Transnistria a special status as part of Moldova and expressed hope for the conflict resolution.

"We are in favor of finding a sustainable solution, and we want the Transnistria conflict to be settled and result in granting a special status to this region," Filip said.

The Moldovan prime minister added he was grateful to Ukraine for participating in the resolution of the Transnistria conflict in the 5+2 format.

On February 4, Filip said the issue of defining the legal status of Transnistria as a part of Moldova would be the country's top priority in 2017. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) expressed support to the idea, hoping that it would help to settle the Transnistrian crisis.

The Transnistrian conflict began in 1990 when the region, which has a predominantly ethic Russian and Ukrainian population, seceded from the Soviet Republic of Moldova for fear of its possible reunion with Romania. The separation led to a conflict that ended in a ceasefire announced on July 21, 1992, but the conflict remains unresolved.

Since 2005, the talks on the conflict in Transnistria have been held in the 5+2 format, which, apart from Transnistria and Moldova, includes OSCE, Russia, Ukraine, the European Union and the United States as mediators. The latest round was held on June 2-3, 2016 in Berlin after a two-year break. The OSCE chairs the negotiation process aimed at finding solutions to the issues affecting the lives of the people on both banks of the Nistru River, such as freedom of movement, education, telecommunications, economy, transport, environment and matters related to the security zone.