Talk:Transnistria/Proposed Version

Transnistria or Transdniester (Russian: Приднестровье, Pridn'estrov'ye; Romanian: Transnistria; Ukrainian: Приднiстров'я, Prydnistrovja; referred to as "Stînga Nistrului" (Left Bank of the Nistru) by official Moldovan sources, "Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublika" by Transnistrian official sources, and as "Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic" by others) is a breakaway entity on the territory of Moldova, in Eastern Europe, adjacent to Ukraine. 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 Tiraspol as its capital. The last official data shows a great ethnic diversity and a Romanian relative majority of 40%.

Formally, a presidential republic, it is considered by many to be a kleptocracy with a poor civil rights record. In particular, Transnistrian local authorities put obstructions to the Moldovans' right to education in the Romanian language written in the Latin script. Arbitrary arrests of citizens, especially of pro-Moldovan and pro-Romanian political views, have likewise been reported.

See also:
 * Elections in Transnistria
 * List of political parties in Transnistria

From the Middle Ages to the XIX Century
In the early middle ages the region was populated by Slavic tribes of Ulichs and Tivertsy as well as 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 15th 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 and Ukrainian, but also included a nomadic Tatar population.

The end of the 18th century marked the Russian Empire's colonization of the region, with the aim of defending what was at the time the Imperial Russian south-western border, as a result of which large migrations were encouraged into the region, including people of Ukrainian, Russian, and German nationalities.

An Autonomous Republic
Bessarabia ceded in 1918 after the disintegration of the Russian Empire, and the region became part of the 'Moldavian Autonomous Oblast' created in 1922 in the Ukrainian SSR. The entity was transformed into an autonomous republic in 1923. Romanian speakers still made up a significant portion of the population of the region and Romanian-language schools were opened.

WWII
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 June 28, 1940, following the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, with the predominantly Romanian-speaking population, and a strip of land on the left bank of the Dniester in the Ukrainian SSR, Transnistria.

In 1941, after the Axis forces invaded Bessarabia in the course of the Second World War, they advanced over the Dniester river. Romania annexed the entire region between the Dniester and the Bug rivers. 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 Russification. Cyrillic was the official script for Romanian, renamed "Moldavian". It had an official status in the republic, together with Russian, which was the language of "interethnical communication" and the official language of the entire Soviet Union.

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 negotiating with the Republic of Moldova, Transnistria and Ukraine for transit rights to be able to evacuate the military material back to Russia. In 1984, the 14th Army headquarters were moved from Chisinau to Tiraspol.

The Breakaway


In August and September 1989, the Moldavian Supreme Soviet enacted two laws introducing the Latin alphabet for written Romanian (Moldavian) and making that language the country's first official language, in place of Russian. On 27 April 1990 the Supreme Soviet adopted a new tricolour flag (red, yellow and blue) with the Moldavian coat of arms and a national anthem which, at that time, was the same as the Romania's anthem. The new language law has been billed as "discriminatory" by some observers. At the same time instances of abuses by the newly formed corps of "volunteers" have been reported.

On 2 September 1990 the "Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic" ("the TMR") was proclaimed. On 25 August 1991 the "Supreme Council of the TMR" adopted the declaration of independence of the "TMR". To date, the TMR has not been recognized by the international community. On 27 August 1991 the Moldovan Parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova, whose territory included Transnistria. At that time the Republic of Moldova did not have its own army and the first attempts to create one took place a few months later. 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".

The Armed Conflict (1990 to 1992)
Main article: The War of Transnistria

The Russian 14th Army's role in the area was crucial to the outcome of the war. Its aid to the Transnistrian rebels can be explained in part by Russia's will to keep its influence in this region, in part by the fact that a lot of its officers and conscripts were local. A large numbers of the Black Sea Cossacks, as well as Russian nationals, went to Transnistria to fight alongside the separatists. With the support given by the troops of the 14th Army to the separatist forces and the massive transfer of arms and ammunition from the 14th Army warehouses to the separatists, the Moldovan army was in a position of inferiority which prevented it from regaining control of Transnistria.

In December 1991 the Moldovan authorities arrested Lieutenant-General Yakovlev on the Ukrainian territory, accusing him of helping the Transnistrian separatists to arm themselves by using the weapons stocks of the 14th Army. The authorities of the Russian Federation interceded with the Moldovan authorities to obtain the release of General Yakovlev.

On 5 April 1992, the Vice-President Rutskoy of the Russian Federation, in a speech delivered to 5,000 people in Tiraspol, incited the Transnistrian people to obtain their independence and sovereignty in a confederation with Moldova, under the protection of the Russian Operational Group (ROG) -the former 14th Army.

The full scale conflict erupted after the regular Moldovan forces entered the city of Tighina (Bender) in an attempt to reestablish the authority of Moldova there. It has been reported that this action was a response to the stand-off at the police station in Tighina on 19 June 1992. On the afternoon of that day the Moldovan police in Tighina arrested the 14th Army's major Yermakov on a suspicion of a planned subversion. After his arrest the Transnistrian guards opened fire at the police station. At night the Moldovan forces moved into the city. Urban warfare ensued between the two sides in the densely populated city. In the course of combat actions in Tighina, there were casualties among civilian population. However there were no purposeful annihilation of noncombatants or acts of large-scale violence against civilians, rather occasional incidents of indiscriminate fire, launched by both sides at residential quarters. f The news of the havoc in Tighina reached Tiraspol, only 10 km away, as the Moldovan forces were approaching the crucial bridge over the Dniester. Instances of the use of aircraft by the Moldovan forces, and shelling of the ROG station have been reported. At this point the Transnistrian Republican Guard and Cossack volunteers were rushed to confront them, supported by tanks from the ROG. In the course of the next days the city of Tighina was retaken by the Transnistrian forces. The conflict dragged on for several more weeks. Significant confrontations also occurred at the city Dubăsari, the village of Kitskany and several other places around Tighina. It has been estimated that hundreds of people died as a result of these events.

A ceasefire agreement was signed on 21 July. This official document was signed by the presidents of Russia (Boris Yeltsin) and Moldova (Mircea Snegur).

The agreement provided for peacekeeping forces charged with ensuring observance of the ceasefire and security arrangements, composed of five Russian battalions, three Moldovan battalions and two Transnistrian battalions under the orders of a joint military command structure.

2004 Crisis
In the summer of 2004, the Transnistrian authorities forcibly closed four schools that used the Romanian language in the Latin script, and arrested several teachers and parents who opposed the closures. During the crisis, 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, in particular, by cutting the power supply from the power plants that were built predominantly in Transnistria in the Soviet times. As a result, this crisis generated power outages in parts of Moldova.

Currently the OSCE, with Russia and Ukraine as mediators are negotiating a settlement to the conflict. It is likely that the EU and the USA will join the settlement talks on Moldovan and Ukrainian requests.

Human Rights
The Republic of Moldova, as well as other foreign states and NGO's 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 withholding registration of religious groups, such as Baptists or Methodists.

The 2001 presidential elections were not considered free by some analysts and observers. Critics of the past elections claim that some parties and publications were banned just before the elections, and that the results 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 left bank villages controlled by the Moldovan government such as Vasilevca, which they claim also result in arbitrary arrests, beatings and sometimes even death.

In the case of Ila&#351;cu 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 Ila&#351;cu Group members, Andrei Ivan& and Tudor Petrov-Popa, still imprisoned in Transnistria. Ilie Ila&#351;cu, was arrested, toghether 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 TMR. It has been alleged that the real reason for their imprisonment has been their political association or the lack of support for Transnistria.

See also: Ilie Ila&#351;cu

Population
At the last census of 1989, the population was 546,400.

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.

1989 census

 * Moldovans (Romanians): 40%
 * Ukrainians: 28%
 * Russians: 24%
 * Others: 8%

2004*

 * Moldovans (Romanians): 34%
 * Ukrainians: 29%
 * Russians: 29%

These numbers represent an estimate utilized by various sources. The results from the 2004 Transnistrian census have not yet been released by the PMR officially. The validity of these numbers is disputed, as they cannot be confirmed by an official source.

Economy
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 580,000 in 2004, it is estimated that about 375,000 people actually reside in the region since the rest are usually working in Russia or Ukraine.

The region has a number of factories, although some only posses older technology. One is a munitions factory in Tighina (Bender) while another important steel factory exists in Ribni&#355;a (Rybnitsa). The factory in Ribni&#355;a 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, which is owned by president Smirnov's eldest son. Sheriff is in a virtual control of the economy, from the newly constructed Tiraspol stadium to a chain of stores in all of Transnistria.

Seats of Administrative regions of Transnistria
Russian names, if different from the Romanian names, are listed in parentheses.


 * Camenca (Kamenka)
 * Dub&#259;s&#259;ri (Dubossary)
 * Grigoriopol (Grigoriopol')
 * Rîbni&#355;a (Rybnitsa)
 * Slobozia (Slobodzeya)
 * Tiraspol (Tiraspol')
 * Tighina (Bendery)

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

 * Inside Bendery (Tighina) - Site Alexa
 * Moldova Azi: News from Moldova
 * Interlic News Agency (Moldova)
 * images of Transnistria
 * Flagspot
 * Totul despre Transnistria I (ro), II (ro), III (ro), IV (ro), V (ro)