Disputed status of Transnistria

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Transnistria

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The disputed status of Transnistria arose because of the Transnistrian declaration of independence on September 2, 1990, which is not recognized by Moldova, nor by other countries and international organizations.

Moldova lost control of Transnistria in the 1990 breakup of the Moldavian SSR and the subsequent War of Transnistria, but never formally ceded the territory. Moreover, Transnistria has not been internationally recognised (except by other post-soviet unrecognised states) and is generally considered to be a part of Moldova.

Transnistria's two main political groups, Republic (Respublika) and Renewal (Obnovleniye) oppose any transfer of sovereignty to Moldova, and no major political party or pressure group in Transnistria supports union with Moldova. However, negotiations under OSCE auspices have been ongoing since 1997 based on the premise that better relations are desirable, and that the restrictions on communications, movement of people, and trade flows must be removed.

In Moldova, the territorial claim to Transnistria ranks rather low among priorities and is not a concern to voters. In contrast, Transnistrians feel strongly about their independence. [1]

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[edit] Historical status of Transnistria

Although ethnic Romanians have historically made up a large minority of the population, the area was never considered part of the traditional lands of Romanian settlement.[2] The territory east of the Dniester river belonged to Kievan Rus' and the kingdom of Halych-Volhynia from the ninth to the fourteenth centuries, passing to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and then into the hands of Russia in the eighteenth century.

By this time, Moldavia had been in existence for almost five hundred years with the Dniester marking its eastern boundary for all this time. Even with the rise of Romanian nationalism in the nineteenth century, the far reaches of Transylvania were considered the western boundary of the Romanian lands[3] while the Dniester formed the eastern.[4] The national poet Mihai Eminescu, in his famous poem Doina, spoke of a Romania stretching only "from the Dniester to the Tisza" and not farther east.

In World War II, when Romania, aided by Nazi Germany, for the first time in history took control of Transnistria there was never any attempt to annex the occupied territory beyond the Dniester for it was generally considered merely a temporary buffer zone between Greater Romania and the Soviet front line.[5][6] Transnistria had never been considered part of Bessarabia: Two preeminent political figures of the day, Iuliu Maniu and Constantin Brătianu declared that "the Romanian people will never consent to the continuation of the struggle beyond our national borders."[7]

[edit] Position of the Transnistrian advocates

The territory to the East of the Dniester River never belonged either to Romania, nor to its predecessors, such as the Principality of Moldavia. This territory was split off from Ukrainian SSR in a political maneuver of the USSR to become a seed of the Moldavian SSR (in a manner similar to the creation of the Finnish Democratic Republic). Transnistria seceded itself from Moldavian SSR before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Since Moldova declared independence from the Soviet Union, all political arrangements made within the Soviet Union must be considered void.

Furthermore, the Transnistrian side brings forth the manner in which the Republic of Moldova declared independence, by stating that it considers the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact to be null and void. The Transnistrians argue that if this is so, then the Moldovans themselves have agreed to relinquish Transnistria as this territory never belonged to Moldova, nor to Romania before the signing of the pact.

[edit] Position of the Moldovan advocates

The Republic of Moldova considers itself the rightful successor state to the Moldavian SSR (which was guaranteed the right to secession from the Soviet Union under the last version of Soviet Constitution). By the principle of territorial integrity, Moldova claims that any form of secession from the state without the consent of the central Moldovan government is illegal.

For these reasons it considers the current Transnistria-based government to be illegitimate, and not the rightful representative of the region's populace, which has a Moldovan/Romanian plurality. It insists that Transnistria cannot exist as an independent political entity and must be reintegrated into Moldova.

[edit] Border issues

During the 1992 War of Transnistria some villages from the Dubăsari district, which geographically belong to Transnistria, rebelled against the separatist government and since then have been under the control of the central government of Moldova. Those villages are: Cocieri (Kochiyery), Molovata Nouă (Novaya Malovata), Roghi (Rogi), Vasilievca (Vasilyevka), Coşniţa (Cosnita, Koshnitsa), Pîrîta (Pârâta, Pyryta), Pohrebea (Pogrebya), and Doroţcaia (Dorotskoye). Also, the village of Corjova (birthplace of Moldovan president Vladimir Voronin) is divided between Transnistrian and Moldovan areas of control.

In 2005 Transnistrian forces entered Vasilievca, which is located over the strategic road linking Tiraspol and Rîbniţa, but withdrew after a few days[8]

At the same time, some areas which are geographically part of Basarabia and not Transnistria are controlled by the authorities from Tiraspol. These areas consist of the city Tighina (Bendery in Russian), and the villages of Gîsca, Protiagailovca, Chiţcani, Mereneşti, Zagornoe, Cremenciug.

Transnistrian authorities also claim the villages of Varniţa, a suburb of Tighina, and Copanca, south of Tighina, in the Cauşeni district, but these villages remain under control of the Republic of Moldova.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Transnistrian side

[edit] Moldovan side

[edit] Others

[edit] International organizations

[edit] Ukrainian side

[edit] Russian side

[edit] Romanian side

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Moldova and Transdnestr: equal marriage or civilized divorce?
  2. ^ Charles King: "The Moldovans", Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, California, 1999, page 180
  3. ^ Charles King: "The Moldovans", Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, California, 1999, page 180
  4. ^ Nicolas Dima's history of Moldova, published in 1991 as part of a series of East European Monographs, Boulder, Distributed by Columbia University Press, New York. Online at http://ivantoc.org/moldova.htm
  5. ^ Charles King: "The Moldovans", Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, California, 1999, page 93
  6. ^ Memoirs of Gherman Pantea, mayor of Odessa 1941–44, in ANR-DAIC, d.6
  7. ^ Charles King: "The Moldovans", Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, California, 1999, page 94
  8. ^ Moldova AZI, Transnistrian Militia Withdrew Its Posts from Vasilievca, Accessed 2006-10-18
    (Romanian)Deutsche Welle: Separatist Transnistrian forces occupied Vasilievca

[edit] References

  1. Oleksandr Pavliuk, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze. The Black Sea Region: Cooperation and Security Building. EastWest Institute. ISBN 0-7656-1225-9. 
  2. Janusz Bugajski. Toward an Understanding of Russia: New European Perspectives, page 102. ISBN 0-87609-310-1. 
  3. "Transnistria: alegeri nerecunoscute", Ziua, December 13, 2005.
  4. in James Hughes, Gwendolyn Sasse (editors): Ethnicity and Territory in the Former Soviet Union: Regions in conflict. Routledge Ed.. ISBN 0-7146-5226-1. 
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