Disputed status of Transnistria

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Transnistria

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Transnistria

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The disputed status of Transnistria arose because of the Transnistrian unilateral declaration of independence on September 2, 1990, which was 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, the breakaway PMR (abbreviation of Transnistrian Moldovan Republic in Russian), that has control over the region, has not been diplomatically recognised (except by Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh[1], three other post-Soviet unrecognised states), and is de jure considered to be part of Moldova.

The two main political parties in Transnistria, the Republican Party (Respublikanskaya Partiya Pridnestroviya) and Renewal (Obnovleniye) oppose any transfer of sovereignty to Moldova. The Social Democratic Party headed by former local MP Alexander Radchenko is the only functioning party in the region to favor reintegration. 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. [2]

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[edit] Historical status of Transnistria

Although ethnic Romanians/Moldavians have historically made up a large minority of the population, the area was never considered part of the traditional lands of Romanian/Moldavian settlement.[3] 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[4] while the Dniester formed the eastern.[5] 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.[6][7] 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."[8]

[edit] Position of the PMR regime advocates

According to PMR 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. (The first part of the statement is obviously true.) This territory was split off from the 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 Karelo-Finnish SSR). In 1990, a Pridnestrovian Moldavian SSR was proclaimed in the region by a number of conservative local Soviet officials opposed to perestroika. (This was immediately declared void by the then president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachov.)

At the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova, Transnistrian region included, became independent. Furthermore, the PMR 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 PMR side argues 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 between Stalin and Hitler.

[edit] Position of the Moldova 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.

It considers the current Transnistria-based PMR government to be illegitimate and not the rightful representative of the region's population, which has an ethnic Moldavian/Romanian plurality (39.9% as of 1989). The Moldovan side insists that Transnistria cannot exist as an independent political entity and must be reintegrated into Moldova.

According Moldovan sources, the political climate in Transnistria does not allow the free expression of the will of the people of the region and supporters of reintegration of Transnistria in Moldova are subjected to harassment, arbitrary arrests and other types of intimidation from separatist authorities.

Despite the self-proclaimed independence of the region, the majority of population (400,000 out of 542,000) took Moldovan citizenship[9], which is considered by Moldova as a sign that the majority of the population oppose separatism.

[edit] Border issues

During the 1992 War of Transnistria some villages in the central part of Transnistria which geographically are situated on the eastern bank of Dniester, rebelled against the new separatist PMR authorities and since then have been under effective Moldovan control. Those villages are: Cocieri, Vasilievca, Molovata Nouă, Roghi, Corjova, Mahala, Coşniţa, Pohrebea, Pîrîta, and Doroţcaia. The village of Corjova, birthplace of Moldovan president Vladimir Voronin, is in fact divided between PMR and Moldovan areas of control.

In 2005 PMR Militia entered Vasilievca, which is located over the strategic road linking Tiraspol and Rîbniţa, but withdrew after a few days.[10]

At the same time, some areas which are geographically part of Bessarabia and not Transnistria are under PMR control. These areas consist of the city Tighina (Bendery in Russian), and the villages of Proteagailovca, a suburb of Tighina, and Gîsca, Chiţcani, Mereneşti, Zahorna, and Cremenciug, south of Tighina, formally in the Căuşeni district of Moldova.

The breakaway PMR authorities also claim the villages of Varniţa, a suburb of Tighina, and Copanca, south of Tighina, in the Căuşeni district, but these villages remain under Moldovan control.

These territorial disputes led to the tense situations several times. In 2005 PMR Militia entered Vasilievca,[11] and in 2006 there were tensions around Varniţa. In 2007 there was a confrontation between Moldovan and PMR forces in the Dubăsari-Cocieri area; however, there were no casualties.

According to Moldovan sources the mayor of the village Corjova, which is under Moldovan control, was "arrested" by the PMR militsia (police) together with a councillor of Moldovan-controlled part of Dubăsari district in 13 May 2007.[12]

[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. ^ BHHRG, Transnistria 2003: Eye in the Gathering Storm
  2. ^ Moldova and Transdnestr: equal marriage or civilized divorce?
  3. ^ Charles King: "The Moldovans", Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, California, 1999, page 180
  4. ^ Charles King: "The Moldovans", Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, California, 1999, page 180
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ Charles King: "The Moldovans", Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, California, 1999, page 93
  7. ^ Memoirs of Gherman Pantea, mayor of Odessa 1941–44, in ANR-DAIC, d.6
  8. ^ Charles King: "The Moldovans", Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, California, 1999, page 94
  9. ^ Nearly 400 thousand transnistrians have Moldovan passports (Azi.md)
  10. ^ Moldova AZI, Transnistrian Militia Withdrew Its Posts from Vasilievca, Accessed 2006-10-18
    (Romanian)Deutsche Welle: Separatist Transnistrian forces occupied Vasilievca
  11. ^ Moldova AZI, Transnistrian Militia Withdrew Its Posts from Vasilievca, accessed 2006-10-18
  12. ^ INEFFECTIVENESS OF PEACEKEEPING MECHANISM LEADS TO INCIDENTS IN MOLDOVA'S SECURITY ZONE

[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.