20/12/2012 President
Strasbourg, 20.12.2012 – During his working visit to the Republic of Moldova from 17 to 20 December and in his address to its parliament, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Jean-Claude Mignon, offered the services of the Parliamentary Assembly as a platform for relaunching dialogue between the representatives of the Moldovan Parliament and the Transnistrian Supreme Soviet.
The President said that his talks in Chisinau had revealed the realism and good faith shown by the government and the parliament in their approach to resolving the Transnistria conflict, which could even provide pointers for resolving this type of conflict in the future. "I am also pleased to see the positive reception given to this initiative on the whole in Tiraspol and I hope that the Supreme Soviet will swiftly take the decision to fully commit to this dialogue," said Mr Mignon.
He encouraged the parties in power and in opposition to work together to ensure that there would be no going back on the reforms embarked upon, particularly regarding the Action Plan and revision of the Constitution, including its Article 78, to avoid any fresh political deadlock over the election of the President.
Jean-Claude Mignon also called for respect for the independence of the judiciary as regards the sensitive issues that divided opinion between the ruling Alliance and the opposition, such as the shutting down of the NIT TV television channel by the Broadcasting Council and the impact of the law banning totalitarian symbols. Finally, he urged progress in priority areas such as the fight against corruption, the reform of the prosecutor's office and the police, the independence of the judiciary and the ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
"Even though future accession to the European Union remains a strong motivating factor for this country, the Council of Europe will continue to be, for the near future, the right institutional framework for progress in achieving reforms," concluded the President, reiterating that this progress first and foremost benefited the people of the Republic of Moldova while providing the best means of speeding up the EU integration process.
During his visit, the President met, among others, the Speaker of Parliament, representatives of the parliamentary factions making up the Alliance for European Integration and representatives of the opposition, as well as the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration and the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for Reintegration.
The President also travelled to Tiraspol on 18 December.