Luxembourg, 20/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - The ninth meeting of the Cooperation Council between the EU and Moldova was held in Luxembourg on Tuesday, to take stock of the implementation of the action plan agreed in 2005, as part of the European neighbourhood policy (ENP). According to the EU, whose delegation was led by German Foreign Affairs Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Moldova must redouble its efforts in terms of democratic reform (particularly in the fields of human rights, media freedom and the rule of law- including the independence of the legal system). The EU27 also hope that the 5+2 negotiations on Transnistria will resume in the near future, as the Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin recently voiced his hopes that they will. The Europeans, like the United States, are observers in these talks, which bring together Moldova, the self-proclaimed Republic of Transnistria, Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE. The EU also welcomes the recent extension (until 30 November 2009) of the assistance mission mandate of the EU for border control in Ukraine and Moldova. (ab)