Bendery, 13 January. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The minutes of the meeting of the Joint Control Commission (JCC) has been signed today for the first time in a long period; decisions have been made on a number of issues, and some of them have been postponed to the next meeting. In particular, the sides have managed to bring their positions closer together and «close» the issue of free movement in the Security Zone — the most controversial item on the agenda since early 2015.
«Today is a rather significant moment in the work of the Joint Control Commission. Today's minutes pave the way to strengthening measures of confidence in the peacekeeping operation itself. In the past years, we have seen some cooling [in relations] within the JCC and Joint Peacekeeping Forces. And today […] we can say that the results of our efforts aimed at balancing the work of the commission exist and we have achieved a certain success," the Pridnestrovian co-chair to the JCC, Oleg Belyakov, told journalists.
The heads of delegations have emphasised the decisive role of the political leaders of Pridnestrovie and Moldova in unblocking the JCC's work. As we have informed, the corresponding agreement was reached during the meeting between Vadim Krasnoselsky and Igor Dodon in Bendery on 4 January.
They have also pointed out the large amount of work performed by the delegations of the PMR, Moldova and Russia in the JCC, representatives of the OSCE and Ukraine to reach this compromise.
«Last year, besides official meetings of the JCC, 49 working meeting were held on freedom of movement. The developed proposals have allowed us today to finish the meeting of the JCC by signing the minutes," noted the head of the Moldovan delegation, Ivan Solonenco.
«Despite the period when they (item on the agenda) were out of consideration by the JCC, which did not work full time, today we have managed to reach a comprehensive compromise solution," concluded the head of the Russian delegation, Yevgeny Vereshchaga.
Speaking about the plans for the current year, the co-chairs have underscored that in this anniversary year for the peacekeeping mission it is important that all its elements function in full.
«It is very important with which result we are approaching this date as peace has been maintained on the Dniester banks for 25 years," added Oleg Belyakov.
