Transnistria

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For other uses, see Transnistria (disambiguation).

Transnistria

Template:Border Image:Transnistria-coa.png Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: For the right to live on this land
Anthem: Anthem of Transnistria
Image:Transnistria-map.png
Capital	Tiraspol 46°51′ N 29°38′ E
Largest city	Tiraspol
Official languages	Moldovan, Russian and Ukrainian
Government President	Parliamentary Republic Igor Smirnov
Recognition Independence Recognition From Moldova	none September 2, 1990 none
Area  • Water (%)	4,163 km²  1,607 sq mi 2.35%
Population	555,500 (2004 est).
Currency	Transnistrian ruble (TR)
Time zone  • Summer (DST)	EET (UTC+2) EEST (UTC+3)
Internet TLD	none; in some cases .md is used
Calling code	373 5xx

Transnistria or Trans-Dniester or Transnistrian Moldavian Republic (TMR) is a region of the Republic of Moldova in Eastern Europe. The unrecognised state has been de facto independent since September 2, 1990, when it made a declaration of independence from Moldova and, aided by contingents of Russian, Cossack and Ukrainian volunteers, and the 14th Russian (formerly Soviet) Army, successfully defeated Moldovan forces, in the War of Transnistria. While a ceasefire has held since 1992, the Council of Europe recognises Transnistria as a "frozen conflict" region. The sovereignty of Transnistria is an issue of contention. Transnistria continues to claim independence and maintains sovereignty over its territory with the assistance of Russian forces.

Contents 1 Names 2 Political status 3 Internal politics 4 History 5 Violation of human rights 6 International relations 6.1 Ukraine-Transnistria border customs dispute 7 Population 7.1 Ethnicity 7.1.1 1989 census 7.1.2 2004 census 8 Economy 9 Crime 10 Administrative regions 11 References 12 External links 12.1 Transnistrian side 12.2 Moldovan side

Names

The name of the region comes from the Moldovan word for "beyond the river Dniester (Nistru)". In both Russian and Ukrainian, the name has a more literal meaning as it is called "Subdniestria" or "the area by the Dniester".

Officially, the region has three languages: Moldovan Cyrillic, Russian and Ukrainian. The official name of the region is "Transnistrian Moldovan Republic". In each of the three national languages the name reads:

• Moldovan Cyrillic: Република Молдовеняскэ Нистрянэ (Republica Moldovenească Nistreană)
• Russian: Приднестровская Молдавская Республика (Pridnestrovskaya Moldavskaya Respublika)
• Ukrainian: Придністровська Молдавська Республіка' (Prydnistrovs'ka Moldavs'ka Respublika)

Also, the various abbreviations of each name in the official languages also appear on the coat of arms on the region. Unofficially, these names have also been used to identify the region. In the Moldovan Latin script, the name of Transnistria is "Republica Moldovenească Nistreană" ("Nistrian Moldovan Republic"). The Moldovan government officially calls the region "Stînga Nistrului", which means "Left Bank of the Nistru". The Russians have called the region "Приднестровье", Pridnestrovye, which literally means "Subdniestria". The European Court of Human Rights used the name "Moldavian Republic of Transdniestria" or "Moldovan Republic of Transnistria" (MRT).

Political status

Transnistria is internationally considered to be part of the Republic of Moldova, and previously part of the Moldavian SSR, but has declared independence as the Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic or Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (TMR), with Tiraspol as its capital.

The Russian authorities contributed both militarily and politically to the creation of a separatist government in Transnistria. The TMR remained under the effective authority, or at the very least under the decisive influence, of Russia, and in any event it survived by virtue of the military, economic, financial and political support that Russia gave it. Despite the Istanbul Agreement of 1999 Russia did not withdraw its military troops from Transnistria. Image:Tiraspol government building.jpg

Internal politics

Formally, Transnistria has a multi-party system and an unicameral parliament, called Transnistrian Supreme Soviet. The president is elected by popular vote. The latest parliamentary elections were held in December 2005; however, they were not monitored by international organizations such as Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and were not recognized by other countries. The candidates were insistently asked not to argue, to be united and not give to the Republic of Moldova any reason to criticise them.

Transnistrian local authorities put obstructions to public mother tongue education for ethnic Moldovans in the Latin script, insisting that any public educational institutions teaching the language use the official Cyrillic alphabet.

Arbitrary arrests of citizens, especially of pro-Moldovan and pro-Romanian political views, have likewise been reported. Ilie Ilaşcu, a politician who favoured Moldovan union with Romania, was famously sentenced to death by the separatist Transnistrian government. He was released in 2001 amid international pressure.

See also:

• Conflict in Transnistria and Gagauzia
• Russification
• Anti-Romanian discrimination
• Elections in Transnistria
• List of political parties in Transnistria

History

Template:Main The first settlement, Tyras, was an ancient Greek colony of Miletus, probably founded about 600 BC, situated on the mouth of the Dniester river (Tyras) near today's Tiraspol. In the early Middle Ages, Transnistria was populated by Slavic tribes and Turkic nomads. It was part of Kievan Rus' at times, and a formal part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 15th century. It 1792 it became part of the Russian Empire

Image:Romania 1920.png

Transnistria first became autonomous in 1924 with the proclamation of the Moldavian ASSR which included today's Transnistria as well as parts of Ukraine, but none of Bessarabia.

The Moldavian SSR, which was set up by a decision of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on 2 August 1940, was formed from a part of Bessarabia taken from Romania on 28 June, following the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and a part of the Moldavian ASSR which is roughly equivalent to present-day Transnistria.

In 1941, after Axis forces invaded Bessarabia in the course of the Second World War, they advanced over the Dniester river. By March 1943, a total of 185,000 Ukrainian and Romanian Jews had been deported and murdered under Romanian and German occupation of Transnistria. The Soviet Union regained the area in 1944.

Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of perestroika in the Soviet Union allowed the political liberalisation at the regional level in 1980s. On 2 September 1990, the Moldovan Republic of Transnistria was unilaterally proclaimed as Soviet republic by the "Second Congress of the Peoples' Representatives of Transnistria".

The War of Transnistria involved armed clashes on a limited scale that broke out between the Transnistrian separatists and the Moldovan police as early as November 1990 at Dubasari. On 2 March 1992, Moldovan President Mircea Snegur authorized military action against Transnistria. Fighting intensified throughout 1992 until a ceasefire was signed on 21 July 1992 which has held ever since.

The OSCE is trying to facilitate a negotiated settlement. Under OSCE auspices, on 8 May 1997, the Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi and the separatist leader Igor Smirnov, signed the "Memorandum on the principles of normalizations of the relations between the Republic of Moldova and Transnistria" also known as "Primakov Memorandum", sustaining the establishment of legal and state relations although the memorandum's provisions had diverging legal and political interpretations in Chisinau and Tiraspol. In May 2005, the Ukrainian government of Viktor Yushchenko proposed a seven-point plan by which the separation of Transnistria and Moldova would be settled through a negotiated settlement and free elections.

Violation of human rights

Image:Igor Smirnov poster.jpg

The Republic of Moldova, as well as other foreign states and non-governmental organizations claim that the separatist government of Transnistria is authoritarian and has a poor human rights record, and is accused of arbitrary arrest and torture. Some organizations claim that the right of free assembly or association is not fully respected and that religious freedom is limited by denying registration to Baptists, Methodists, and the Church of the Living God. Transnistrian authorities also reportedly accused Jehovah's Witnesses of lacking patriotism and spreading Western influence, and developed school teaching aids along those lines containing negative and defamatory information regarding the Jehovah's Witnesses[1].

There is disagreement as to whether elections in Transnistria are free and fair. The majority of the Western organizations, especially the OSCE have declared that no democratic elections can take place in the region under the present circumstances and have refused to even monitor them. Critics of the past elections claim that some parties and publications were banned just before the elections of 2001, and that the results of that elections were suspicious, as in some regions it was reported that the former Kamchatka-raised metalworker Igor Smirnov collected 103.6 percent of the votes. A 2005 report from the European Union's Institute for Security Studies sees democratic advances and states that Transnistrian politics is moving towards more pluralism.[2] Nevertheless, some international observers and organizations, such as CIS-EMO, have participated and have called them democratic.

The Republic of Moldova accuses the PMR administration of organizing incursions into some of the left-bank villages controlled by the Moldovan government such as Vasilevca, which they claim also result in arbitrary arrests, beatings and sometimes even deaths.

According to a human rights report by the US Department of State, prisons in Transnistria are said to be harsh [3]. The trafficking of women is a serious problem in the territory, with both women from Moldova and Transnistria and women transported through from other countries. [4] [5] [6] [7]

A case of human rights violation is the arrest and trial of the leader of Christian Democratic Popular Party, Ilie Ilaşcu, who was arrested along with four other persons at their homes in Tiraspol in early days of June 1992. They were subsequently charged with the murder of two "civil servants" and "terrorist crimes against the MRT". It has been alleged that the real reason for their imprisonment was their political association or their lack of support for Transnistria. In December 1993 Ilie Ilaşcu was sentenced to death for war crimes and terrorism. During the trial, he was kept in reinforced iron cages, as he was considered "extremely dangerous". This decision was contested by various international human rights organizations, which cast doubt upon the fairness of the trial. For years, he was kept in solitary confinement without access to family or to medical assistence.

He was eventually released in 2001, two years after he lodged an application with the European Court of Human Rights. He refused Moldovan president Vladimir Voronin's offer that he must abandon his lodged application with the European Court of Human Rights in exchange of the promised liberty of the other Romanians imprisoned in Transnistria.

In the case of Ilaşcu and Others v. Moldova and Russia (2004), the European Court of Human Rights held unanimously that Moldova and Russia are to take all necessary measures to put an end to the arbitrary detention of Ilie Ilaşcu Group members, Andrei Ivanţoc and Tudor Petrov-Popa, still imprisoned in Transnistria.

The Transnistrian authorities reportedly continue to use torture and arbitrary arrest and detention. Transnistrian authorities harassed independent media, restricted freedom of association and of religion, and discriminated against Romanian-speakers. [8]

International relations

Ukraine-Transnistria border customs dispute

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On March 3, 2006, Ukraine imposed new customs regulations on its border with Transnistria: Ukraine declared it will only import goods from Transnistria with documents processed by Moldovan customs offices, as part of the implementation of the joint customs protocol between Ukraine and Moldova on December 30, 2005. Transnistria and Russia termed the act "economic blockade". Moldova denies this being described as blocade, claiming it created favorable conditions for registration of Transnistria-based businesses: to obtain a 6-month export license is a half-hour simplified procedure.

Of major mediators of the conflict in the region, the United States, the European Union and OSCE approved the Ukrainian move, while Russia sees it as a means of political pressure and claims that "Russia's interests are directly affected" as well.

On March 4, Tiraspol retaliated by blocking the Moldovan and Ukrainian transport at the borders of Transnistria. The block was lifted on March 18.

Population

At the census of 1989, the population was 546,400. At the time of the 2004 census, whose results are contested, the population was 555,000.

Recently, there has been a substantial emigration 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.

Image:Transnistria ethnicity.jpg

Ethnicity

Until the 1960s, the Moldovans made up the absolute majority in the region, but the ethnic proportions changed due to industrialization and the immigration of Russian and Ukrainian workers, encouraged by the Soviets. The trend continued after 1991, too, as the Moldovan population decreased between 1989 and 2004 from 41% to 32% of the total population. However, the Moldovans are still the largest single group of the region.

1989 census

• Total population on the left bank of the Nistru River (minus Tighina): 546,400
• Total population in raions mostly on the left bank of the Nistru River (minus Tighina): 600,700
• (note that percentages below are given from the second figure)
• Moldovans: 40%
• Ukrainians: 28%
• Russians: 24%
• Others: 8%

2004 census

• Total population (including Tighina): 555,500 (percentages below refer to this first figure)
• Total population (minus Tighina): est. at 425,000 - 477,000

• Moldovans: 31.9%
• Russians: 30.3%
• Ukrainians: 28.8%
• Bulgarians: 2%
• Gagauz: 2%
• Poles: 2%

Economy

After WWII, Transnistria was heavily industrialized, to the point that in 1990, it was responsible for 40% of Moldova's GDP and 90% of its electricity, despite the fact that it accounted for only 17% of Moldova's population.

The GDP is about $420 million [9] and the GDP per capita, based on the exchange rate, is $662, making the area slightly poorer than Moldova, and possibly the poorest region in Europe.

Although the population of the republic was 555,500 in 2004, it is estimated that about 375,000 people actually reside in the region since the rest are usually working abroad.

The region has a number of factories, although some only possess older technology. One is a munitions factory in Tighina (Bender) while another important steel factory exists in Rîbniţa (Rybnitsa). The factory in Rîbniţa brings about 50% of the republic's revenue and is the main provider of jobs in that city, however, it was closed down in 2006.<ref>Flux, "Faliment", 14 April 2006.</ref>

Another important factory is the distillery "Kvint" of Tiraspol, famous for its strong spirits, which is also shown on the 5 Transnistrian ruble banknote.

An important company in the republic is Sheriff, owned by president Smirnov's eldest son. Sheriff owns a chain of supermarkets, a chain of petrol stations, a TV channel, the FC Sheriff Tiraspol football team and its newly constructed stadium.

Crime

According to the government of Moldova, the EU, and various NGO's, Transistria has been a haven for the smuggling of various products to the Republic and Moldova, or to eastern states through the Ukrainain border. The administration of the TMR has denied any such allegations. The government of Ukraine, which had long been seen as assisting in this illegal trade, has recently taken steps to prevent smuggling along its border by opening new customs posts and by stipulating the goods passing from Transnistria through Ukraine must first obtain clearance from Moldovan authorities. [10]

Various analysts have also identified the dangers presented by the region due to its large deposits of weapons and the potential of their sale across the black market. Recently, a cache of surface-to-air missile launchers as well as other weapons disappeared from a former Soviet stockpile and officials are unable to account for their whereabouts. [11]

Administrative regions

Russian names are listed in parentheses.

• Camenca (Каменка), also Kamenka
• Dubăsari (Дубоссары), also Dubossary
• Grigoriopol (Григориополь)
• Rîbniţa (Рыбница), also Rybnitsa
• Slobozia (Слободзея)
• Tiraspol (Тирасполь)
• Tighina (Бендеры), also Bender or Bendery

References

1. Template:Note {{cite book

| author = Oleksandr Pavliuk, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze
| title = The Black Sea Region: Cooperation and Security Building
| publisher = EastWest Institute
| id = ISBN 0765612259
}}

1. Template:Note {{cite book

| author = Janusz Bugajski
| title = Toward an Understanding of Russia: New European Perspectives
| id = ISBN 0876093101
| pages = page 102
}}

1. {{cite news

| url = http://stiri.rol.ro/stiri/2005/12/transnistria_alegeri_nerecunoscute.htm
| title = Transnistria: alegeri nerecunoscute
| publisher = Ziua
| date = December 13, 2005
}}

1. U.S. Department of State: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
2. {{cite news

| url = http://web.archive.org/web/20041011210032/http://www2.gol.com/users/rick/supplement/articpages/eurart1.html
| title = Transnistria: relic of a bygone era
| publisher = The Japan Times
}} (mirrored at archive.org)

1. BBC - Regions and territories: Trans-Dniester
2. {{cite news

| url = http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3110979
| title = (Former Soviet war zones) The hazards of a long, hard freeze
| publisher = The Economist
| date = 19 August 2004
}}

1. {{cite news

| url = http://www.russiaprofile.org/international/article.wbp?article-id=17083EE8-8E02-4D87-920A-EA5170766534
| title = Flying the Red-and-Green Flag
| publisher = Russia Profile
| date = 7 september 2005
}}

1. {{cite news

| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/3586815.stm
| title = Misery in a pariah state
| publisher = BBC
| date = April 1 2004
}}

1. {{cite book

| author = Anne Applebaum
| title = Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe
| publisher = Pantheon Books
| year = October 1994
| id = ISBN 0679421505
}} see Chapter 4

1. {{cite book

| editor = James Hughes, Gwendolyn Sasse (editors)
| title = Ethnicity and Territory in the Former Soviet Union: Regions in conflict
| publisher = Routledge Ed.
| id = ISBN 0714652261
}}

1. {{cite book

| editor = Gur Ofer, Richard Pomfret (editors)
| title = Economic Prospects of the CIS - Sources of Long Term Growth
| publisher = Edward Elgar
| id = ISBN 1843766159
}}

1. Foreign Broadcast Information Service - Soviet Union, Oct. 24, 2000.
2. {{cite book

| author = Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Ivan Krastev
| title = Nationalism After Communism: Lessons Learned
| id = ISBN 9639241768
}}

1. {{cite book

| author = Victor Bârsan
| title = The Ilascu trial, White Paper of the Romanian Helsinki Committee
 }}

1. {{cite book

| editor = John Mackinlay, Peter Cross (editors)
| title = Regional Peacekeepers
| publisher = United Nations University Press
| id = ISBN 9280810790
}}

1. {{cite news

| url = http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20040118-103519-5374r.htm
| author = George Jahn
| title = Hotbed of weapons deals
| publisher = Washington Times
| date = January 19, 2004
}}

1. {{cite news

| url = http://www.nato.int/acad/fellow/99-01.htm
| author = Ion Mardarovici
| title = NATO and the security in the Eastern countries during transition times
| publisher = NATO Fellowship Program
| date = 2002
}}

1. {{cite news

| url = http://politicom.moldova.org/stiri/eng/10352/
| title = Kyiv decides to enforce customs regulations with Moldova
| publisher = Moldova.Org
| date = March 8, 2006
}}

External links

Template:Commonscat

• Profile of Trans-Dniester from the BBC
• OSCE Mission to Moldova

Transnistrian side

• PMR Presidential website
• Pridnestrovie.net
• transdniestria.com

Moldovan side

• Moldova Azi: News from Moldova
• Moldova.org non-governmental country portal

ast:Transnistria

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