All aspects of the “package of eight” will be finalized by the end of the year: this was the historic outcome of the 5+2 talks on the Transdniestrian settlement process held in Rome on 29 and 30 May under the Italian OSCE Chairmanship. The commitment is reflected in the Rome Protocol signed by the Sides, mediators and observers.

The Protocol outlines clear timelines and mechanisms to ensure the rapid finalization of the outstanding issues from the “package of eight” priorities identified by the Sides in 2017.

“Agreements followed by implementation through local ownership and leadership have become the new norm of the Transdniestrian settlement process. The Protocol signed by the Sides today gives me confidence that the remaining priorities related to telecommunications, criminal cases and the freedom of movement will be achieved by the Sides by the end of the year if not sooner,” said Franco Frattini, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transdniestrian Settlement Process.

“The commitment to finalize all aspects of the ‘package of eight’ further builds trust and makes this year a historic one for the settlement process and most importantly for Chisinau and Tiraspol.” The mediators and observers welcomed the adherence to the results-oriented approach called for by the 57 participating States in OSCE Ministerial Council Statements in 2016 and 2017. They also applauded the Sides for the remarkable achievement of concluding in April 2018 a complex agreement on the participation of vehicles from Transdniestria in international traffic.

“Over the past months, Chisinau and Tiraspol have demonstrated a genuine commitment to advance the settlement process. This was evident at all levels of the negotiations starting from the intense series of meetings of the working groups lead by the Chief Negotiators, to the personal engagement of the Moldovan and Transdniestrian leadership,” said Ambassador Michael Scanlan, Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova and the OSCE mediator in the 5+2 format.

“I am confident the Sides will continue this results-oriented approach over the coming months, as the direct negotiations between the Sides in Chisinau and Tiraspol facilitated by the OSCE Mission move beyond the ‘package of eight’ to ensure continued progress in the settlement process.”

The 5+2 meeting in Rome follows remarkable progress made by the Sides on the ground with the breakthrough signing of five agreements from the “package of eight” in November 2017. This year Chisinau and Tiraspol have engaged in an active dynamic to implement three of the November agreements, related to the opening of the Gura-Bicului–Bychok bridge, to the apostilization of diplomas and to the functioning of Moldovan Latin-script schools.

The Sides have reconfirmed timelines to finalize the agreement on the use of farmlands in the Dubasari district by 1 August and to launch by 1 September the implementation of the so-called “licence plate agreement” signed by the Sides on 24 April 2018. The 5+2 format includes representatives of the Sides, mediators and observers in the negotiation process – Moldova, Transdniestria, the OSCE, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the European Union and the United States.

The goal of the 5+2 talks is to work out the parameters of a comprehensive settlement based on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova within its internationally recognized borders with a special status for Transdniestria within Moldova, as reconfirmed annually in Ministerial Council Statements by all the 57 OSCE participating States.