Vlad Plahotniuc, leader of the governing coalition of the Moldova, has met with Franco Frattini, the special representative for the Transnistrian settlement of the Italian OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office, at the headquarters of the PDM.

The talks focused on solving the Transnistrian conflict and contribution of the political leadership in Chisinau in this process.

Vlad Plahotniuc emphasized that resolving the Transnistrian conflict can only be based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova within its internationally recognized borders, as stipulated in the OSCE Ministerial Statements, adding that an agreement on the special status of Transnistria should be concluded respecting these parameters and the country's borders.

He pointed out that the current ruling coalition succeeded in signing a series of protocols with Tiraspol last autumn which benefited people on both sides of the Dniester, additionally, started an important confidence-building process.

In this respect, the ruling coalition is committed to meeting the political commitments made by the parties in the Vienna 5 + 2 Protocol to ensure further progress in 2018.

Moreover, a fundamental principle of the ruling coalition is to see the withdrawal of foreign troops from the territory of Moldova, according to the Declaration of the OSCE Summit in Istanbul. 

In his turn, Franco Frattini declared that Moldova has the international community's support for the final stage of the regulatory process. 

In this respect, he welcomed the initiative demonstrated by Chisinau last year, which led to the signing in November 2017 of four extremely important agreements, which are now being implemented.

From his point of view, his task this year, together with the OSCE Mission in Moldova and the international partners in the "5 + 2" process, is to help the parties reach agreement on the three outstanding issues in the "eight package" under the Protocol "5 + 2" from Vienna.

He also stressed that the OSCE is ready to play a mediating role in the evacuation and destruction of Russian ammunition and armaments, as mandated by the OSCE Mission, extended in 1999 following the Istanbul OSCE Summit and annually supported by all the 57 OSCE member states.