The first meeting of the working group between Moldova’s Parliament and the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia will take place in December. The agenda was discussed by Head of Parliament Andrian Candu and a team of experts of the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) in a meeting. The key subjects on the agenda are socioeconomic and legislative in character, IPN reports.

The activity of the working group for ensuring the functionality of the Gagauz autonomous unit and the legislative provisions of Moldova with regard to the special status of the unit will be supported by the Crisis Management Initiative, including in terms of expertise. The working group aims to ensure a mechanism for cooperation between Moldova’s Parliament and the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia.

The group was set up based on a Parliament decision adopted last week. In the near future, the parliamentary groups will choose the MPs who will work on this group.

The Speaker said it is important to implement first infrastructure and economic development projects in the region. He noted that in the discussions held in Brussels, he asked European Commissioner Corina Cretu to help Moldova access European funds for developing regional projects, including in Gagauzia.

The CMI experts voiced hope that the created working group will become an efficient platform for dialogue between the authorities. At the beginning of this week, the working group had its first informal meeting, which involved members of Moldova’s Parliament and of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia and was facilitated by the CMI experts.

Founded by President Martti Ahtisaari in 2000, CMI is a Finnish independent non-profit organisation that works to resolve conflict and to build sustainable peace within regional programs in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. In Moldova, CMI assists Parliament within the project “Supporting the Efficient Exercise of Gagauzia’s Autonomous Powers within Moldova’s Constitutional Framework”, which is financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden.