Merry Christmas, from Transnistria and "The Tiraspol Times"

Snow covers the small park in front of a private office building in Pridnestrovie just before Christmas (photo: visitpmr.com)

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - In this season of wonder and joy, of generosity and peace, that brings family and friends together, The Tiraspol Times shares its Christmas message with its readers both local and foreign.

Whether you are in Chisinau, and refer to us as Transnistria, or based here in Tiraspol, where it is called Pridnestrovie, this is the season where we share in the love for others and observe the hallowed traditions that make this time so special.

Here, we celebrate two Christmas Eve's: The Western Christmas and that of the Russian Orthodox Church which still uses the old Julian calendar, with its Christmas celebration on January 7th, 13 days behind the West.

This year, surviving one more year as a de facto independent country in the midst of extraordinary struggles, this headstrong little nation has shown the world that though there is great evil, there is a greater good. The PMR has withstood another full year of defending its freedom. Victims of a cruel and coldly calculated trade blockade, the people of Transnistria have shown their resilience and voted for more of same: If independence means hardship, then we want more of it, said 97% of the voters in September's referendum, proudly refusing any common cause with a counterpart that continues to use information war and economic weapons against them.

The people of Tiraspol, Bender and the other towns and cities give thanks to their friends abroad who have given of themselves, sacrificing to help others and showing the sprit of love and sharing that is so much a part of the Christmas season. We now enter the seventeenth year since the people of PMR, following a democratic referendum on their own future, declared their independence in 1990.

Luke tells us that two thousand years ago, the savior of mankind came into the world. Jesus' birth was the incarnation of God on earth, opening the door to new hope and eternal life. At Christmastime, we celebrate God's love revealed to the world through Christ. And the message of Jesus is one that both sides of the Dniester must embrace this holiday season: To love one another.

Christmas reminds us that the values we share should far outweigh whatever differences there are among people. Jesus calls us to help others; acts of kindness that do not cost us much, but can realize the hopes and dreams of an entire people trapped in limbo due to the callous double standards of international politics.

As we again celebrate Christ's birth, may the glorious light of God's goodness and love shine forth from this little land.

May the spirit of this season of light and harmony be with you today and throughout the New Year, as we work together with the half million people of the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica to build a fairer, gentler society – a society of justice and peace, where a citizen on one side of the border is worth just as much to the international community as his neighbor on the other side of that border. A border, we must remember, which was not drawn in haste by Hitler or Stalin, but is the traditional, historical and ethnic border going back thousands of years.

The staff of our three information products - the newspaper, our magazine and the website online edition - join me in wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
May God's blessings of peace be upon us and upon the world.

See also:
» Our 3 products: Website, magazine, newspaper
» Moving past a "frozen conflict", voters in Pridnestrovie look to the future

On the web:
» Photo gallery: "PMR in winter"