Виголошена Заступником Постійного представника України при міжнародних організаціях у Відні Євгенією Філіпенко на 1192-му засіданні Постійної ради ОБСЄ 12 липня 2018 року

Mr. Chairperson,

The delegation of Ukraine warmly welcomes the Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Ambassador Michael Scanlan back to the Permanent Council and thanks him for his thoughtful and forward-looking report.

At the outset let me express our gratitude to the OSCE Mission to Moldova for providing support to the “5+2” negotiations on political settlement of the Transdienstrian conflict and for contributing to building confidence on both sides of the Dniester river.  

We welcome the progress made by the sides in reaching and implementing agreements, which would benefit the daily lives of the population on both banks of the Dniester river. We hope that the output-based negotiation process will generate the positive dynamic leading to the comprehensive and sustainable resolution of the Transdniestrian conflict that respects the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova within its internationally recognized borders.  

Following the commitments, reiterated by the sides in May in Rome, it would be important that Chisinau and Tiraspol continue working on further implementation of pending priority measures from the “package of eight”, agreed in 2017, and moving beyond. In this regard, we hope that constructive dynamic of the negotiation process will advance the work on the political, institutional and security aspects of the Transdniestrian settlement.

 Underlining the importance of Mission’s full access to all of Moldova, we encourage the Mission to continue providing regular updates on the political and security situation on the ground, in particular in the Transdniestrian region of Moldova and border areas adjacent to Odesa oblast of Ukraine.

We express our concern on the reported movement of military-type vehicles with no identifying markings in the Security Zone, which belong to the Operational Group of Russian Force and stationed on the territory of Moldova without consent of this state. We reiterate the importance of implementation of earlier reached agreements and commitments, including from the 1999 OSCE Istanbul Summit on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transdniestria. The recently adopted resolution of the UN General Assembly “Complete and unconditional withdrawal of foreign military forces from the territory of the Republic of Moldova” urges the Russian Federation to complete, unconditionally and without further delay, the orderly withdrawal of the Operational Group of Russian Forces and its armaments from the territory of the Republic of Moldova. The resolution also provides support for and further encourages the facilitation by the States participating in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe of the completion of the process of withdrawal of the Russian forces and armaments from the territory of the Republic of Moldova, in accordance with the relevant decisions of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and as agreed at its summit held in Istanbul in 1999.

Ukraine believes that there is the need for the transformation of the existing peacekeeping format in the Transdniestrian region to a multinational civilian mission with an appropriate international mandate, enabling effective and impartial fulfillment of its mission.

I wish to reiterate that as a guarantor and mediator in the Transdniestria settlement process, Ukraine will continue to promote implementation of practical and tangible steps with the view of achieving 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 this is the last address by Ambassador Scanlan to the Permanent Council as Head of Mission, the delegation of Ukraine wishes him every success in his future endeavours.

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.