CHISINAU, Moldova, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Talks on the "frozen conflict" between Moldova and its breakaway region of Transnistria will be resumed this month, international mediators say.
A top official of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe announced Saturday that representatives of the two sides will meet Nov. 30 to resume settlement talks that have been stalemated since 2006.
After visits to the Transnistria capital of Tiraspol and Chisinau, Moldova, over the weekend, OSCE special representative for protracted conflicts Giedrius Cekuolis said the new round of talks will be Nov. 30-Dec. 1 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
As in previous attempts to settle the conflict, the negotiations will include the OSCE, Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union in a "5-plus-2" format.
Cekuolis said unofficial preliminary talks in September in Moscow set the stage for a full-scale resumption of the OSCE-hosted negotiations.
"We cannot afford to lose time and the positive momentum created in Moscow," he said. "I welcome today's acceptance by the sides of the invitation of the OSCE chairman-in-office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis, to meet in Vilnius for the first official 5-plus-2 meeting."
Transnistria, which isn't internationally recognized as a nation, is seeking official status 19 years after a cease-fire was declared following a bloody civil war with Moldova sparked by the break-up of the former Soviet Union.
Often criticized for the presence of organized crime within its borders, residents of Transnistria voted in September 2006 to seek independence and supported a longer-range plan to join Russia.
But Moldova and the international community didn't recognize its results.
After the Moscow talks in September, the "5-plus-2" participants issued a statement declaring the resumption of the stalled peace process "will be dedicated to discussing the principles and agenda" for a political settlement.
Cekuolis, however, warned after meeting with Transnistria President Igor Smirnov and other Transnistria officials that no breakthroughs could be expected soon, Interfax-Ukraine reported.
"There will be progress millimeter by millimeter, or half-step by half-step," the OSCE envoy said. "There is predominant optimism after our meeting today despite all the difficulties and problems."
Cekuolis added the 5-plus-2 group didn't "want any theater. It's a good time to resume what we had before and maybe create something new as well."
Smirnov, Transnistria's only president since its declaration of independence from Moldova, said he discussed a range of issues with Cekuolis, including recent incidents within the 6-mile demilitarized security zone along its border with Moldova.
But, he reiterated, that Transnistria wasn't prepared to accept anything less than independence, the news agency reported.
"I said again that we are firmly sticking to the position that means normalization of relations between Transnistria and Moldova and enforcement of the will of the people stated during the referendum of 2006," he said.
In Chisinau, Cekuolis met with Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament and Acting President Marian Lupu and Prime Minister Vlad Filat among other officials.
The meetings came a day after U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Moldova needs to strengthen democracy by ensuring an independent judiciary, tackling discrimination and protecting the rights of minorities.
Pillay said that during talks with senior Moldovan officials she discussed discrimination against religious minorities -- especially Muslims, Jews, Protestants and Jehovah's Witnesses -- and the Roma people, whom she said are "systematically excluded" and "almost completely unrepresented" in government.
However, she noted, "the country is clearly on the road to strengthening its democracy, and aims at a number of ambitious reforms."
