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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his recent efforts to find a peaceful solution to the problem of the region of Transnistria with reference to his actions within (a) the EU, (b) NATO and (c) the OSCE. [187740] Mr. MacShane: We remain concerned about the situation in Transnistria, and together with EU partners continue to call on the two parties in particular the Transnistrians, to negotiate constructively and in good faith, After Transnistrian moves to force the closure of Latin script schools in the region, which has raised tensions significantly, the EU imposed a travel ban on 26 August against ten individuals within the Transnistrian administration responsible for the measures. Along with our EU partners, we are supporting Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe mediation in the settlement talks, and continue to look for ways to bolster this support. We also regularly raise Transnistria with the other mediators, Russia and Ukraine, both bilaterally and through the EU. I raised our concerns with the Ukraine Defence Minister on 6 September. We want Russia to fulfil commitments made when signing the Adapted Conventional Forces in Europe (ACFE) Treaty at the OSCE Summit in Istanbul in 1999, including full withdrawal of arms and ammunition from Transnistria. or their destruction in situ, and the withdrawal of Russian forces. Together with NATO allies we have stated that we will not ratify the ACFE Treaty until the Russian Federation has met their commitments concerning Moldova and Georgia.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

424 c1376-7W;424 c1384-5W; 187740

Session

2003-04

Subjects

European Union International organisations International cooperation Ethnic groups Politics and government Minority groups NATO Peace negotiations EU external relations Independence movements Trans-Dniestr Moldova Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk