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The "nightmare of 1992" was unleashed against Pridnestrovie when Moldova decided to start a war to solve the conflict: 1000 died

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - Reacting increduously to statements by Vladimir Voronin, Pridnestrovie's military said "no thanks" to be put under Moldovan command while the two sides haven't even agreed on a permanent peace settlement yet.

Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin floated an idea in a newspaper on Wednesday that the two sides should join their armies in one single command structure, to be led from the Moldovan capital. Nevertheless, Moldova has still not signed a final peace deal with Pridnestrovie after it initiated a war in 1992. At the current time, only a ceasefire exists.

" - This is the simplest form of populism," said Lt. General Vladimir Atamiuk, chief of Pridnestrovie's General Staff, in comments to the Interfax news agency.

" - We can't place the cart before the horse," said Atamiuk. "At present there is not yet a political solution to the Moldova-Pridnestrovie issue, and that makes must come first. Without this basic agreement, other initiatives are impossible."

In 1992, Moldovan troops crossed the border with Pridnestrovie and unleashed a war in an attempt to take control of the country. The territory, which is also known as Transdniestria, or Transnistria in Moldovan, has been the subject of an unrealized territorial claim by Moldova ever since the sides declared independence in 1990 and 1991, respectively.

After heavy resistance by the people of Pridnestrovie, backed by Cossack volunteers and Russian defectors, Moldova's military was forced to sign a cease-fire agreement and withdraw to its own side of the Dniester river which for most of the length of territory forms the effective border between the two.

Pridnestrovie points out that there is only a cold peace, and that - technically speaking - no peace agreement has yet been signed.

" - A ceasefire is not a peace deal. It is merely an agreement that the shooting should stop," says a negotiator close to Pridnestrovie's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "The side that started the war has not yet sat down and told us to our face that they relinquish their claim. They still have plans for subduing us. They have not renounced their desire to take full control of our country."

"No new nightmare," promises Voronin

Although never having had any sort of sovereign control over Pridnestrovie whatsoever since Moldova was founded as a country, Moldova nevertheless still maintains its 17 year old territorial claim. In a departure from the actual reality on the ground, Pridnestrovie is also included on maps of Moldova as if it was part of Moldova.

Speaking to his home country's Izvestiya v Moldove newspaper, Vladimir Voronin nevertheless claimed that he would not initiate a new war against Pridnestrovie again.

" - We are never going to return to the nightmare of 1992," he promised. The "nightmare" was unleashed by Moldova which refused to respect the right of Pridnestrovie to unilateral self-determination, even though Moldova itself has made use of this right less than a year before it started the war.

In Tiraspol, the capital of Pridnestrovie, the statements of the Moldovan strongman were met with skepticism and derision.

" - Today, the resumption of this nightmare is prevented by the existence of peacekeepers in Pridnestrovie and by the fact that we have our own armed forces now," official state news agency Olvia Press said in an editorial.

Tiraspol has continually expressed its desire for a peaceful settlement which rules out the threat of new military action from its larger neighbor. Moldova, however, left the joint settlement negotiation talks in February 2006.

The mostly Russian-speaking Pridnestrovie, which is inhabited mostly by Slavs, declared independence in 1990, one year before the Romanian-speaking Moldova declared independence. Although not yet recognized internationally, Pridnestrovie functions in all practical aspects as a separate, independent country which meets the requirements for statehood under international law.

Pridnestrovie is separated from Moldova by the Dniester river. The territory east of the Dniester has never belonged to an independent Moldovan state at any time in history. It was grafted onto Moldova in 1940. Prior to 1940, Moldova was a part of Romania while Pridnestrovie was an autonomous republic inside the Soviet Union, with Tiraspol as its capital. (With information from DPA)

See also:
» Fears of new war as Moldova upgrades military capacity [1]
» 15 years later Pridnestrovie still grieves its war dead [2]