Meeting of the Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebrian with the Special Representative of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly for Eastern Europe Kristian Vigenin

On February 14, 2024, Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebrian had a meeting with the Special Representative of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) for Eastern Europe, Kristian Vigenin, accompanied by OSCE PA Presidential Advisor Loïc Poulain and the Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, Ambassador Kelly Keiderling.

During the meeting, officials approached a wide range of topics on the agenda of the negotiation process, including: the current dynamics of the interaction between Chișinău and Tiraspol, positive actions of the constitutional authorities in relation to the residents of the region, the priorities of the Government in the field of reintegration policies, as well as the very precarious situation of human rights in the eastern districts of the country with special emphasis on individual cases concerning illegal political imprisonment (Pleșcanov V., Menzarari S.).

Clarifications were given regarding the provisions of the new Customs Code of the Republic of Moldova, stressing that the introduced customs duties are applied on a fair basis to economic agents on both banks of the Nistru River and do not yet cover the fiscal component (excise duties, VAT). These requirements are aimed at the gradual inclusion of the activities of entrepreneurs in the region into the national legal framework.

It was also mentioned that the provisions of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova regarding the incrimination of separatism do not affect the negotiation process on the Transnistrian settlement and do not infringe on the right to free movement of residents of both banks of the Nistru River.

It was emphasized that in the coming days, meetings of working groups on economic issues and in the field of road transport would be convened with the participation of experts from Chișinău and Tiraspol, as well as the planning of a visit to the Republic of Moldova by the OSCE Chair-in-Office, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Malta during April of this year.