US foreign policy org: "Moldova is a failed state"

After having driven Moldova to failure, Mr. Voronin now sets his sights on Pridnestrovie

WASHINGTON (Tiraspol Times) - Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, continues to unravel. Under a Communist Party president, Vladimir Voronkin, the situation has gotten so bad that it now ranks worse than Nicaragua, not exactly a beacon of human rights or quality of life.

The Failed State Index 2006 was compiled by American researchers working for the Fund for Peace, a US-based think-thank, and the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine, published by the Carnegie Endowment in Washington, DC. Ranked by 12 criteria, including human flight and economic decline, states compete for the title of the most failed in the world, a position currently held by Sudan, in Africa.

Economically, Moldova ranked equal to Afghanistan and Sudan ... and, on average, much worse than most of the failed African countries on the list. In terms of human rights, it tied with Eritrea for the "honors" of an equally terrible human rights record; just a step below Cambodia and Sierra Leone.

Tiraspol does not want to join a "failed state"

The reaction from Tiraspol has been muted. While Tiraspol recognizes that it, too, has problems, they pale in comparison to the woes of Moldova. The inclusion of Moldova on the world's list of failed states is seen by Tiraspol's politicians as yet another reason to keep their young state independent. As the US Failed State Index confirms, Moldova is not a role model for how to run a country: In terms of state failure, it is right down there with Afghanistan, Eritrea, Nicaragua and Sudan...

While the failed state of Moldova continues to unravel, Igor Smirnov, Pridnestrovie's current president, comments:
" - Our neighbors should pay more attention to promotion of the democratic process at home."

In 1990, in the breakup of the Soviet Union, Pridnestrovie - also known as Transnistria - declared its independence, and was not part of Moldova in 1991 when that country was formed as separate, sovereign state. Moldova has consistently critized Pridnestrovie for being autocratic and for lacking in democratic values. Pridnestrovie refutes this claims, pointing to its regularly scheduled elections and to no less than six different referendums held in the last 16 years during its independence.