Louis O’Neill Moldova Mission

Odessa - October 25, 2007. Ambassador Louis F. O’Neill - http://www.louisoneill.com - and his team from the OSCE Mission to Moldova conducted a successful two-day conference on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures for the top leadership in the Moldovan government and Transnistrian administration in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa.

Care was taken to invite the chief negotiators and senior military advisors from the Republic of Moldova and the Transnistrian region along with representatives of the “5+2” mediators (the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Russian Federation and Ukraine) and observers (the United States and the European Union).
At the beginning of the first day, Ambassador Louis O’Neill, Head of the OSCE Mission, welcomed the two sides in his opening remarks. “It is key that we come together in good faith and try to break down the barriers of tension and mistrust that get in the way of possible Transnistrian settlement,” said Ambassador O’Neill, ”The many sessions we have planned over the next two days will help us learn from the successes and mistakes of other conflict areas in order to improve the situation in our region"

Experts on the Balkans, South Caucasus, Northern Ireland, Middle East, Cyprus, Sri Lanka and the European Union shared best practices and alternative approaches with the Moldovan and Transnistrian participants. The gathering expands on a set of confidence and security building measures (CSBMs) prepared by the OSCE Mission along with Russian and Ukrainian specialists. It was presented to the Moldovan government in Chisinau and the Transnistrian leadership in Tiraspol in the summer of 2005.

The set of measures contained draft agreements on potential military cuts and a blue-print for increased interaction, inspections of armaments plants, linked peace-keeping training, joint preparation for disaster relief efforts, and unified approaches to destroying surplus light weapons.

In his summary, Ambassador Louis O’Neill - http://www.louisoneill.com - praised the participants for their active involvement and openness. The Russian, American, Ukrainian and a number of European Ambassadors to Moldova were in attendance for Ambassador O’Neill’s concluding remarks, during which he outlined the lessons learned and pitfalls to be avoided in confidence building among the sides. “We are confident that this conference will lead to enhanced trust and contact between Moldovan and Transnistrian officials, and will allow them to take a fresh look at our package of CSBMs,” said O’Neill.

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