OSCE Mission to Moldova

The Mission’s top priority is to facilitate through peaceful negotiations a comprehensive settlement of the Transdniestrian conflict based on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova with a special status for Transdniestria within Moldova. This end state is endorsed by all 57 OSCE participating States, including the Republic of Moldova, through annual Ministerial Council Statements. This dispute is rooted in the conflict that broke out in 1992 between the Transdniestrian authorities and the central government in Chisinau. A ceasefire was agreed in July 1992 and the parties committed themselves to negotiate a settlement to the conflict facilitated by the OSCE.

Since the December 2016 OSCE Ministerial Statement, the negotiations process works on the basis of an output-based approach. It has put the focus on the Sides – Moldova and Transdniestria – to develop and implement practical outputs to advance the settlement process. At the start of 2017, the Sides identified a “package of eight” priorities, with agreements reached on six of them in November 2017 and in April 2018. As of September 2018, five of the agreements have been implemented. As it is up to the Sides to define the special status for Transdniestria within Moldova, the agreements reached within the “package of eight” have started that process.

The Mission also pursues a range of other activities in the context of promoting a comprehensive, just and lasting Transdniestrian settlement.

The details of the Mission’s mandate can be found here: full mandate