Chisinau calls on EU to step up its role in Transdniestria settlement, sees no chance of 5+2 format for now - deputy PM

CHISINAU. March 28 (Interfax) - The European Union should play a more substantial role in the Transdniestria settlement negotiations, Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebrian said.

"The geopolitical landscape around Moldova is changing rapidly, and what was relevant even six months ago is becoming outdated. The EU's role in the negotiating process should be reviewed," Serebrian said on the TV8 television channel.

"This is Chisinau's official position, and I've voiced it in Brussels, Berlin, Paris, and the United States. The EU and the U.S. are engaged in the 5+2 format as observers. This is wrong, if only because Moldova has become an EU candidate country, which changes a lot," he said.

Asked about negotiations in the 5+2 format, which some participants have insisted on resuming, Serebrian said, "Negotiations in this format are impossible for now."

"This negotiating process can be resumed only after the relationship between Ukraine and Russia is normalized. But what kind of format this is going to be has yet to be analyzed, and there are different opinions on this score. Some think we need to negotiate with Russia, and some think just the opposite, that Russia must be excluded from this process. There is an opinion that Romania should be engaged, as was the case at the very start, while now Romania is involved only via the EU. It's too early to speak about this now," he said.

Moldova's European integration and the Transdniestria settlement are two processes that should go ahead simultaneously, Serebrian said. "These processes are interdependent, but one should not obstruct the other," he said.