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Transnistria

Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: none
Anthem: Anthem of Transnistria
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 (%)	3,567 km²  N/A%
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
Footnotes

Transnistria or Trans-Dniester is a region in eastern Europe. Although it is internationally recognised as part of the Republic of Moldova, it claims independence and maintains sovereignty over its territory with the assistance of Russian forces. The unrecognised state has been de facto independent since 1991, when it made a unilateral declaration of independence from Moldova and successfully defeated Moldovan forces, with Russian assistance, in the War of Transnistria. While a ceasefire has held since 1992, the Council of Europe recognises Transnistria as a "frozen conflict" region.

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."

Official, the region has three languages: Moldovan Cyrillic, Russian and Ukrainian. Their official name, the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic, is also translated into each language:

• Moldovan Cyrillic: Република Молдовеняскэ Нистрянэ ("Nistrian Moldovan Republic")
• Russian: Приднестровкая Молдавская Республика (Pridnerstrovskaya Moldavskaya Respublika)
• Ukrainian: Придністровська Молдавська Республіка (Prydnistrovska Moldavska Respublika)

Also, the various abbreviations of each name in the official languages also appear on the coat of arms on the region. Unofficial, these names have also been used to identify the region. In the Moldovan Latin script, the name of Transnistria is Republica Moldovenească Nistriană ("Nistrian Moldovan Republic"). The Moldovan government officially calls the region Stînga Nistrului, which means Left Bank of the Nistru. The Russian name of the region Pridnestrovye and Ukrainian Prydnisrovia literally mean "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) (officially named Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic (Pridnestrovie) according to current constitution), with Tiraspol as its capital.

The Russian authorities contributed both militarily and politically to the creation of a separatist regime 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.

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:

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

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 monitorized by international organizations such as 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.

History

Ancient history

Tyras was an ancient Greek colony of Miletus, probably founded about 600 BC, situated on mouth of the Dniestr river (Tyras). It fell under the dominion of native kings whose names appear on its coins, and it was destroyed by the Dacians about 50 BC. In AD 56 it has been restored by the Romans and henceforth formed part of the province of Lower Moesia.

From the Middle Ages to the 20th century

In the early Middle Ages, Transnistria was populated by Slavic tribes of Ulichs and Tivertsy as well as by Turkic nomads such as Pechenegs and the Cumans. It was part of Kievan Rus' at times, and a formal part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 15th century. Northern Transnistria was part of the historical region of Podolia while the southern area, which came under the control of the Ottoman Empire in 1504, was part of what came to be known as Yedisan. The Ottoman portion was eventually ceded to the Russian Empire in 1792. At that time, the population was sparse and mostly Romanian/Moldavian and Ukrainian, but also included a nomadic Nogai Tatar population.

The end of the 18th century marked the Russian Empire's colonization of the region, as a result of which large migrations were encouraged into the region, including people of Ukrainian, Russian, and German ethnicity.

Autonomous Moldavian Republic in Soviet Ukraine

In 1918 the Directory of Ukraine proclaimed the sovereignty of the Ukrainian People's Republic over the left bank of the Dniester. At that time, the population was 48% Ukrainian, 30% Romanian/Moldavian, 9% Russian, and 8.5% Jewish. One third of that region (around Balta, with a Ukrainian majority) belongs today to Ukraine. In 1922 the Ukrainian SSR was created, and in 1924 the region became part of the Moldavian ASSR within the Ukrainian SSR. Romanian speakers made up a significant portion of the population of the region and Romanian-language schools were opened.

World War II

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, where the majority of the population were Romanian speakers, and a strip of land on the left bank of the Dniester in the Ukrainian SSR, which was transferred to it in 1940. (the strip is roughly equivalent to the territory currently claimed by the MRT).

In 1941, after Axis forces invaded Bessarabia in the course of the Second World War, they advanced over the Dniester river. Romania annexed the entire region between Dniester and Southern Bug rivers, including the city of Odessa, as Transnistria. 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 when the Soviet Army advanced into the territory driving out the Axis forces.

Soviet Moldova

The Moldovian SSR became the subject of a systematic policy of Russification, even more so than in Tsarist times. Cyrillic was made the official script for Moldavian. It had an official status in the republic, together with Russian, which was the language of "interethnic communication".

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 had 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 was negotiating with the Republic of Moldova, Transnistria and Ukraine for transit rights to be able to evacuate the military materiel back to Russia. In 1984, the 14th Army headquarters were moved from Moldovan capital Chişinău to Tiraspol.

The breakaway

Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of perestroika in the USSR allowed the political liberalisation at the regional level in 1980s. The incomplete democratisation was preliminary for the exclusivist nationalism to become the most dynamic political force. Some national minorities opposed these changes in the Moldovan political class of the republic, since during Soviet times, local politics had often been dominated by non-Romanians, particularly by those of Russian origin. The language laws — introducing the Latin alphabet for written Moldovan and requiring proficiency in the Moldovan language for public servants— presented a particularly volatile issue as a great proportion of the non-Romanian population of the Moldavian SSR did not speak Moldovan. The problem of official languages in the Republic of Moldova has become a Gordian knot, being exaggerated and, perhaps, intentionally politicized. This displeasure with the new policies was manifested in a more visible way in Transnistria, where urban centers such as Tiraspol, had a Slavic majority. The scenes of protests against the central government of the republic were more acute here.

According to the census in 1989, the population in Transnistria was 39.9% Moldovan, 28.3% Ukrainian, 25.4% Russian, 1.9% Bulgarian.

On 2 September 1990 the Moldovan Republic of Transnistria was proclaimed. On 25 August 1991 the Supreme Council of the MRT adopted the declaration of independence of the MRT. On 27 August 1991 the Moldovan Parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova, whose territory included Transnistria. The Moldovan Parliament asked the Government of the USSR "to begin negotiations with the Moldovan Government in order to put an end to the illegal occupation of the Republic of Moldova and withdraw Soviet troops from Moldovan territory".

After Moldova became a member of the United Nations (2 March 1992), Moldovan President Mircea Snegur (president from 1990 to 1996) authorized concerted military action against rebel forces which had been attacking loyal Moldovan police outposts on the left bank of the river Nistru, and on a smaller section of the right bank around the southern city of Tighina (Bender). The rebels, aided by contingents of Russian Cossacks and the Russian 14th Army, consolidated their control over most of the disputed area.

Forces of the 14th Army (which had owed allegiance to the USSR, CIS and the Russian Federation in turn) stationed in Transdistria, had fought with and on behalf of the Transnistrian separatist forces. The separatists were able to arm themselves with weapons taken from the stores of the former 14th Army. The Russian 14th Army's role in the area was crucial to the outcome of the war. The Moldovan army was in a position of inferiority which prevented it from regaining control of Transnistria. A cease-fire agreement was signed on 21 July 1992.

Aftermath

Despite the ceasefire agreement, Russia had continued to provide military, political and economic support to the separatist regime, thus enabling it not only to survive but to strengthen itself and acquire a certain amount of autonomy from Moldova. General Aleksandr Lebed, the commander of the Russian Operational Group (the former Russian 14th Army) since June 1992, who acted as a Transnistrian politician, said many times that his army was able to reach Bucharest in two hours. In the security zone controlled by the Russian peacekeeping forces, the MRT regime continued to deploy its troops illegally and to manufacture and sell weapons in breach of the agreement of 21 July 1992. In February 2003, the USA and EU imposed visa restrictions against the Transnistrian leadership.

Although only 2,600 troops of the Russian 14th Army remain in the operational group, their presence has been used by Russia as an instrument of influence over the region. In the security zone controlled by the Russian peacekeeping forces, the MRT regime continued to deploy its troops and to manufacture and sell weapons in breach of the agreement of 21 July 1992. In February 2003, the USA and EU imposed visa restrictions against the Transnistrian leadership.

The agreement to withdraw all Russian forces was signed in 1994, but while the number of troops decreased, an immense stockpile of ammunition and equipment remained. The arsenal of the former 14th Army consists of 49,476 firearms, 805 artillery guns, 4,000 cars, and 655 units of various military equipment, which is enough to arm four rifle divisions.

The OSCE is trying to facilitate a negotiated settlement and has had an observer mission in place for several years. The Russian army was still stationed in Moldovan territory in breach of the undertakings to withdraw them completely given by Russia at the OSCE summits in 1999 and 2001.

The Kozak Memorandum

In July 2002, OSCE, Russian, and Ukrainian mediators approved a document setting forth a blueprint for reuniting Moldova under a federal system. However, the fundamental disagreements over the division of powers remained, which rendered the settlement elusive.

In mid-November 2003, Russia unexpectedly provided a much more detailed memorandum proposing a united asymmetric federal Moldavian state with an attached key proposal to locate a Russian military base on Moldavian soil for the next 20 years . First published in Russian on the website of Transnistria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the text was promoted by a Russian politician Dmitry Kozak, known to be a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and one of the key figures in his presidential team. The memorandum presented an end to the previous Moscow policy, which assumed that the region would have equal status in federation with the rest of the country.

It was proposed that the competences of government of the federal Moldova would be divided into three categories: those of the federation, those of individual subjects and those of joint competences. The plan presented several issues risking to cause blockage in policy-making. A lower house, elected by proportional representation, would pass legislation by simple majority. All laws would also need the assent of the senate, however, whose representation would be highly disproportionate with respect to population figures: 13 senators elected by the federal lower house, 9 by Transnistria and 4 by Gagauzia. According to the 1989 census, Transnistria had 14% and Gagauzia 3.5% of Moldova's total population. By this plan, Transnistria would be an outright blocking minority.

Large demonstrations against the Kozak memorandum took place in Chişinău in the days following the publication of the Russian proposal. Moldova's leadership declined to sign memorandum without the coordination with the European organizations. A visit by President Putin to Moldova was cancelled. Later in 2005 president Vladimir Voronin made a statement that 2003 Kozak memorandum was rejected due to its contradiction with Moldovan constitution which defines Moldova as a neutral state and could not allow any foreign troops on its soil, while the country cannot join military alliances. Moldova and the Kozak memorandum was a key issue at the OSCE ministerial meeting in Maastricht in December 2003, and disagreement between Russia on the one hand and the EU and the US on the other on Moldova was one of the principal reasons why a final joint declaration was not adopted after the meeting.

2004 crisis

In the summer of 2004, the Transnistrian authorities forcibly closed six schools that taught Moldovan language using the Latin script. A number of the 3,400 enrolled children were affected by this measure and the teachers and parents who opposed the closures were arrested. During the crisis, the Moldovan government decided to create a blockade that would isolate the autonomous republic from the rest of the country. The blockade was ineffective because of a lack of cooperation from Ukraine's government. Transnistria retaliated by a series of actions meant to destabilize the economic situation in Moldova, in particular, by cutting the power supply from the power plants that were built predominantly in Transnistria in Soviet times. As a result, this crisis generated power outages in parts of Moldova.

The closed Romanian schools were reopened but they still have the status of "private schools" and consequently do not receive funding from PMR authorities. As publicized by the government in 2006, there are 6.700 students at ten secondary or high schools. In the state financed system, there are 33 schools in Moldovan (Cyrillic script) of the total of 186 schools.

Ukraine-sponsored talks

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. Under the plan, Transnistria would remain an autonomous region of Moldova. The United States, the EU and the MRT expressed some level of agreement with the project. In July, Ukraine opened five new customs posts on the Transnistria-Ukraine border. The posts, staffed by both Moldovan and Ukrainian officials, are intended to reduce the hitherto high incidence of smuggling between the breakaway state and its neighbors.

Violation of human rights

The Republic of Moldova, as well as other foreign states and NGOs 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.

No Elections in Transnistria were recognized as free and democratic by international organisations. 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 Igor Smirnov collected 103.6 percent of the votes.

The Republic of Moldova also accuses the MRT 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 . 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.

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 continued 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.

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.

Ethnicity

Until the 1960s, the Moldovans made up the absolute majority in the region, but the ethnic proportions changed due to the industrialization and the immigration of Russian and Ukrainian workers, encouraged by the Soviets. The trend of 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%

Economy

After WWII, Transnistria was heavily industrialized, to the point that in 1990, it produced 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 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.

Reports of visitors to Transnistria have confirmed that the average salary of a Transnistrian does not exceed $20-$40. 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.

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.

Transnistria imports many times more consumables then the rest of the country, e.g. around 6,000 times as much cigarettes in order to avoid duties and tax income. The majority of these goods are then smuggled onto the Moldovan market.

Transnistria owes to Russian company Gazprom more than $1 billion for gas consumed since early 1990s. However, Gazprom continued supplying gas to Transnistria without asking to pay for it, until the 2000s, when the Transnistrian government had to give its shares in Moldovan gas company Moldovogaz in account of the debt.

Crime

Since partition, Transnistria has served as a haven for smugglers and traffickers in fuels, arms, and other contraband, as well as trafficking in human beings. A recent report funded by the British Department for International Development named Transnistria "a smuggling company masquerading as a state".

Recently, a cache of 70 surface-to-air missile launchers disappeared from a former Soviet stockpile and officials are unable to account for their whereabouts. The government of Ukraine, which had long been seen as assisting in this illegal trade, had recently taken steps to prevent smuggling along its border by opening new customs posts and forming internal anti-smuggling squads.

In 2005, a reporter of British newspaper The Sunday Times impersonating a middleman for an Islamic terrorist group obtained a deal for an Alazan rocket and a radioactive warhead for $200,000. Moldovan authorities declared that 38 such dirty bombs are found in Transnistria, of which three are in the hands of the separatists and the rest are kept by the Russian army.

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

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5. U.S. Department of State: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
6. Template:News reference (mirrored at archive.org)
7. BBC - Regions and territories: Trans-Dniester
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14. Foreign Broadcast Information Service - Soviet Union, Oct. 24, 2000.
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External links

Independent side

• Transnistrian war in pictures
• The decision in Ilascu and others v. Moldova and Russia
• The Plan for the Transnistrian Conflict Settlement Proposed by Ukraine
• OSCE Mission to Moldova
• Eurojournal.org
• Council of Europe: Frozen conflicts

Moldavian side

• Moldova Azi: News from Moldova
• Interlic News Agency
• BASA-press News Agency

Transnistrian side

• Olvia-Press: The misinformation agency of Transnistria
• Armed conflict in and around the city of Bendery
• Constitutional Court of the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublika
• MRT Presidential website
• Transdniestria English language voice of Transdniestria

Others (in Romanian language)

• Totul despre Transnistria I (ro)
• Totul despre Transnistria II (ro)
• Totul despre Transnistria III (ro)
• Totul despre Transnistria IV (ro)
• Totul despre Transnistria (ro)

• Disputed territories
• Transnistria