Transnistria

Transnistria or Transdniester (Russian: Приднестровье (Pridn'estrov'ye), Romanian Transnistria, referred to as Stânga Nistrului (Left Bank of the Nistru) by official Moldovan sources) is a region in eastern Europe. The name comes from it being the area of Moldova east of the river Dniester (Nistru).

Political status

It is considered internationally to be part of Moldova, and previously part of the Moldavian SSR, but has declared independence as the Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic, with a capital at Tiraspol. The region has a Slavic-speaking majority, who fear unification with Romania, but has a large minority of 43% of the population that speaks Romanian.

History

In the early middle ages the region was populated by Slavic tribes of Ulichs and Tivertsy as well as at times by Turkic nomads such as Pechenegs and the Polovtsi , a part of Kievan Rus' at times, and a formal part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 15-th century, the area came under the control of the Ottoman Empire in 1504. It was eventually ceded to the Russian Empire in 1792. At that time, the population was sparse and mostly Moldovan/Romanian/Slavic, but having also a nomadic Tatar population.

The end of the 18th century marked the Russian and Ukrainian colonization in region, with the aim of defending what was at the time the Imperial Russian south-western border.

After the Soviet Revolution, the region was part of the 'Moldavian Autonomous Oblast' in the Ukrainian SSR. Romanian speakers still made up a significant portion of the inhabitants of the region and Romanian-language schools were opened.

After World War II, it was included with Bessarabia into the Moldavian SSR in exchange for the Southern Bessarabia ("Bugeac"), which was included in the Ukrainian SSR.

In the 40's, Transnistria suffered as many ethnic Romanians were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan and were replaced by Ukrainians and Russians. Most ethnic Romanians were allowed to return in the 50's, during the process of de-Stalinazation.

Most industry that was built in the Moldavian SSR was concentrated in Transnistria, while the rest of Moldova had a predominantly agricultural economy. In 1990, Transnistria accounted for 40% of Moldova's GDP and 90% of its electricity production.

The 14th Soviet army has been based there since 1956 and was kept there after the fall of the Soviet Union to safeguard what is probably the biggest weapons stockpile and ammunition depot in Europe, which was set up in Soviet times for possible operations on the Southeastern Theater in the event of World War III. Russia is rather half-heartedly negotiating with Transdnistria and Ukraine for transit rights to be able to evacuate the military material back to Russia.

The civil war

In 1989, the Moldovans in the capital of Chişinău, often called Kishinev in English, declared Moldovan – actually Romanian – to be the official language, and talks began regarding reunification with Romania. The Slavs on the left bank of the Dniester) River declared their own Dniester Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic on September 2, 1990 and a civil war broke out in 1992, taking roughly 1,500 lives. The war was ended after a cease-fire was negotiated by the Moldovan, Transnistrian, Russian and Ukrainian representatives.

A part of the cease-fire agreement was a Russian peacekeeping force in the region: a controversial action to some, a necessary guarantee of protection to others. Ever since, the Moldovan government has had no actual authority over the Transnistrian region.

Although an agreement with Moldova was signed in 1994 to withdraw all the Russian troops from Transnistria, it was never ratified by the Russian State Duma.

In July 2004, a Transnistrian separatist leader declared that the separatist entity would organize a referendum in the autumn of 2004 on whether Transnistria would become part of the Russian Federation — even though the region has no common border with Russia.

2004 Crisis

The separatist Transnistrian authorities began forcibly closing schools that used Romanian language in Latin script, and several teachers and parents who opposed the closures were arrested. The Moldovan government decided to create a blockade that would isolate the autonomous republic from the rest of the country. Transnistria retaliated by a series of actions meant to destabilize the economic situation in Moldova: since, during the Soviet times, most of the power plants in Moldova were built in Transnistria, this crisis generated power outages in parts of Moldova.

Currently the OSCE, with former Bulgarian president Petur Stoyanov as lead negotiator, are negotiating to resolve the situation.

Human Rights

The separatist government of Transnistria is authoritarian with a poor human rights record, and is accused of arbitrary arrest and torture. The right of free assembly or association is not respected. Religious freedom is restricted by withholding registration of religious groups, such as Baptists or Methodists.

The 2001 presidential elections were not free. Parties and publications were banned just before the elections. The results were suspect, as in some regions it was reported that Igor Smirnov collected 103.6 percent of the votes.

Population

Population of the region is 633,600 (2001). At the last census of 1989, the population was 546,400.

Recently, there has been a substential emmigration from the region due to economic hardships of the 1990s. This is one of the reasons why a disproportionately large part of the population is past the age of retirement.

Ethnicity

• Moldovans (Romanians): 43%
• Ukrainians: 28%
• Russians: 25%

Economy

The GDP is about $420 million [1] and the GDP per capita, based on the exchange rate, is $662, making the area slightly wealthier than Moldova overall but still one of the poorest parts of Europe.

Seats of Administrative regions of Transnistria

Russian names, if different from the Romanian names, are listed in parentheses.

• Camenca (Kamenka)
• Dubăsari (Dubossary)
• Grigoriopol (Grigoriopol')
• Rîbniţa (Rybnitsa)
• Slobozia (Slobodzeya)
• Tiraspol (Tiraspol')
• Tighina (Bendery)

See also

• Elections in Transnistria
• Places That Don't Exist – BBC Television series on unrecognised nations

External links

Official sites

• Presidential website
• Olvia-Press: the information agency of Transnistria

Profiles

• U.S. Department of State: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
• BBC – Regions and territories: Trans-Dniester
• Transnistria: relic of a bygone era (newspaper article from The Japan Times mirrored at archive.org)

Others

• Moldova Azi: News from Moldova
• Interlic News Agency (Moldova)
• images of Transnistria
• Flagspot