Transdnestr must become autonomous part of united Moldova - OSCE

CHISINAU, November 11 (RIA Novosti, Vladimir Novosadyuk) - The Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration said Friday the goal of recent OSCE talks on Transdnestr, a self-declared republic in Moldova, was to "assign autonomy status to the Transdnestr region as a territorial subdivision of a united Moldova."

A report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) delegation in Moldova on the progress in regulating the Transdnestrian conflict and the democratic development of Moldova was discussed at an OSCE Permanent Council session in Vienna.

The Moldovan delegation at the OSCE session in Vienna "again confirmed Moldova's firm position on the need to remove Russian troops and arms from the country's territory, called on the OSCE to pass resolutions to this effect, and called on Russia to swiftly resume the process of removing troops in accordance with the decisions reached at the OSCE summit in Istanbul," the ministry said.

EU monitoring of the Moldovan-Ukrainian border, including the Transdnestrian section, will substantially help the settlement process, the ministry said.

The OSCE also acknowledged important steps taken by the Moldovan authorities to attain international standards in the areas of democratization, human rights, and election processes, the ministry said.