Kanerva finds support for Moldova discussions

Foreign Minister's visit to Ukraine begins on a positive note

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The first visit to one of Europe’s troubled areas by Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva (National Coalition Party) in his capacity as Chairman -in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) began on a positive note, at least in formal terms.
      He flew on Monday to Kiev, but will also be stopping off in neighbouring Moldova, where Ukraine has been acting as an intermediary in the conflict between Moldova and the breakaway republic of Transdniestria.
      Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ogryzko promised his full support for Finland’s efforts to broker a resumption of talks between Moldova and Transdniestria.
     
Negotiations on the subject of Transdniestria’s independence aspirations - the area east of the Dniester River is de jure part of Moldova, but de facto it has been independent since the early 1990s - have been pretty much on ice of late.
      Ukraine, as a neighbour of Moldova, has an important role to play in securing a peaceful settlement to the conflict.
      According to Kanerva, the Ukrainians have their suspicions that a unilateral declaration of independence in Kosovo would have an impact on the Transdniestria case.
      Kanerva said he had tried to underline the importance in any case of getting talks going between the two sides once more, irrespective of the fact that the situation on the broader international front might not be the best possible for a settlement.
     
Foreign Minister Kanerva has been very careful not to link the ongoing talks about possible Kosovo independence from Serbia with any of the other outstanding regional crises and points of tension in the broader European region.
      He is trying as it were to fence off the Kosovo situation into its own separate process under the UN.
     
Earlier in the day, Kanerva talked with Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Hryhoriy Nemyrya in Kiev. Their discussions touched on ODIHR monitoring of the upcoming Russian presidential elections.
      Nemyrya also brought out the Ukrainian wish to move closer to the European Union. The minister reported that the country was taking steps to develop its administrative structure better to correspond with that of the EU.
      Apparently the Finnish understanding is that Ukraine’s hopes of joining the EU are high, but in discussions nobody is going to say a word about when the nation might be able to dream of accession. Ukraine is not as yet a recognised EU applicant, and is not currently seen by Brussels as ready for membership.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland avoids big disputes at launch of OSCE Chairmanship (10.1.2008)
  Kanerva: Finland ready for new tasks in Kosovo (11.1.2008)

Links:
  OSCE
  Foreign Ministry Press Release
  Transdniestria (Wikipedia)
  OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)

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