"Chisinau should not have different points of view when engaged in a dialogue with the West and other partners … The Transnistrian problem can be solved only in the 5+2 format and only under the condition that all state institutions in Chisinau have a joint stance [on the issue]," Dodon said after a meeting with Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu and Prime Minister Pavel Filip.
Dodon also stressed that the president’s administration, parliament and government should share the same position on critical national-scale problems such as the country’s reintegration.
Additionally, Candu said that an agreement to form an expert group, which would include representatives of Moldovan state institutions as well as independent and international experts, was reached during the meeting. The group’s aim will be to find solutions in order to restore Moldova’s territorial integrity and to offer them within the present formats of negotiations.
Transnistria is a region with a predominantly ethical Russian and Ukrainian population. It seceded from the Soviet Republic of Moldova in 1990, fearing possible reunion with Romania. The separation led to a conflict known as "The Transnistria War" that ended in a ceasefire declared 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 that includes the breakaway region, Moldova, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Russia, Ukraine, plus the European Union and the United States as external observers. The last round was held on June 2-3, 2016 in Berlin.
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