German Chancellor Angela Merkel insists that the 5+2 negotiations format is good, because it keeps the Westerners from unpleasant talks with the Russian Federation. This is the opinion of political analyst Oazu Nantoi, who commented, for Info-Prim Neo, the high-ranking official’s statements about the Transnistrian settlement. “When I hear the foreign officials’ statements on the 5+2 negotiations format it reminds me of November 25, 2003, when the Kozak Memorandum was supposed to be signed. Vladimir Voronin, being a, let’s say, incompetent President, set the signing of this document on the back of his own people and the international community. Back then, the international community, the USA, the EU, OSCE, were forced to roughly intervene in order to avoid the signing of this document”, pointed out Oazu Nantoi. In his opinion, the West perceives this discussion format as a positive one, because it is predictable, albeit progress is equal to zero. The expert says that this format emerges from a redundant perception of the conflict, as being an internal one, between the populations on the right and left banks of the Nistru, and with Russia keeping the status of an innocent mediator-country between the conflict’s sides. “This format is convenient for the West, simply because it exempts them from unpleasant talks with Russia, in case they would’ve really wanted to help Moldova”, said Oazu Nantoi. Angela Merkel does not make any exceptions, the analyst says; she has her own problems, her own voters, and a set of priorities in the relations with Russia, and Moldova is not part of this priority set. “But the fact that Mrs. Merkel, as an important European leader, knows about the existence of this problem and talks about it in Chisinau, makes me a bit more optimistic in the sense that Russia should understand that Moldova must be left alone, so that we choose our own fate, even if this fate, sometime, in 15 years, will materialize into integration to the EU”, mentioned Oazu Nantoi. As for the reasons for the German Chancellor’s visit to Chisinau, the analysts believes that, firstly, it is motivated by the fact that Moldova is part of the Eastern Partnership Program and looks more or less positive from EU’s point of view. “EU needs a positive precedent in promoting this policy, and this need identifies with the Republic of Moldova. As a consequence, Angela Merkel comes to Moldova, and this is a message that the EU treats us as a partner to discuss with, and one that has the chance to become a neighbor of the Union; and the second message would be an allusion towards Kiev, saying, there, if you’d have behaved differently, I would’ve visited you as well”, the analyst considers. Angela Merkel arrived to Chisinau at the invitation of Premier Vlad Filat. The Chancellor had a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister, one with the leaders of Parliamentary Parties, and one with representatives of the business community, after which she delivered a speech at the Republican Palace, and laid flowers at the monument of ruler Stefan cel Mare.