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If given the choice, most ethnic Moldovans prefer independence for "Transnistria" rather than joining with Moldova

DUBOSSARY (Tiraspol Times) - "I would die for this country," says Vlad Leşco, ready to sign up as volunteer for Pridnestrovie if there is ever a war on the border again. Vlad is an ethnic Moldovan. He speaks Moldovan, a variant of Romanian. But he was born in Pridnestrovie, a country which is known as Transnistria in his own language. Like most ethnic Moldovans on this side of the Dniester river, he rejects talk of unification with the Republic of Moldova. "We are better off if we can strengthen our independence here in Pridnestrovie," he says.

Both Pridnestrovie and Moldova are ethnically mixed. In Moldova, 78% of the population are ethnic Moldovans or Romanians (just 14% are Slavs). In Pridnestrovie, 32% are ethnic Moldovans or Romanians (and almost two-thirds are Slavs.)

This opposite mix of majorities and minorities make the people of Pridnestrovie unique and different in almost every way, separate from Moldova. A UN-report talks about the two sides' "very different historical past", while the OSCE-mission recognizes the "distinct feeling" of Pridnestrovie's separate "identity going beyond ethnic lines."

International studies: Ethnic Moldovans refuse Moldova

According to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, ethnic Moldovans who live in the PMR have a distinct feeling of Pridnestrovian identity going beyond ethnic lines. And they prefer being governed by Pridnestrovie rather than by Moldova. As OSCE writes in a report: "Many ethnic Moldovans living on the left bank have an aversion against being governed directly from the centre [...] and do not consider themselves as “Bessarabians”. Several prominent political figures in the self-proclaimed PMR are ethnic Moldovans."

Other international experts and scholars agree.
" - In PMR, most citizens do not want to rejoin the territory which is today the Republic of Moldova," says geopolitical scholar John O'Loughlin, author of a study of Pridnestrovie, National Construction, Territorial Separatism, and Post-Soviet Geopolitics in the Transdniester Moldovan Republic. "Perhaps surprisingly to outsiders, this includes at least nine out of every ten of even the ethnic Moldovans who live in Pridnestrovie."

Opinion polls reveal the same result. As reported by the International Crisis Group, "in a 1998 poll carried out jointly by Moldovan, Pridnestrovian, Russian, and U.S. researchers, 83 percent of respondents supported Pridnestrovian statehood." In the nearly ten years since the poll, sponsored by the US-based Carnegie Foundation, the de facto independence of Pridnestrovie has consolidated itself and support for Pridnestrovie's statehood has increased even more: It now stands at 96+ percent, with nine out of ten of the ethnic Moldovans suppporting an independent Pridnestrovie, too.

In Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, parliamentarian and former spokesman for Moldova's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleg Serebrian [1], says the same thing. According to the chairman of the Social-Liberals, more than 90 percent of the population of PMR will vote for independence. Even among ethnic Moldovans, the majority are in favor of separate statehood for Pridnestrovie and want no future within Moldova.

Preference for independence "makes sense"

Ethnic Moldovans are in no hurry to join their brothers on the other side of the Dniester river, in the Republic of Moldova. In fact, given the choice, they would rather stay in Pridnestrovie and would rather have Pridnestrovie continue its course towards more independence, integration and international recognition.

" - In a way, this makes sense," says Leşco. "Because look at Switzerland, another small country with many minorities and with three main languages. The German Swiss and French Swiss are perfectly happy not being part of Germany or France."

As with any rule, there are exceptions. Around Dubossary, and on the Eastern bank of the Dniester, the dominantly Moldovan-inhabited villages of Dorotcaia, Cosnita, Cocieri, Malovata, Pohrebea, and Pirita in Pridnestrovie have preferred Moldovan jurisdiction. Although these left bank locations were never part of Moldova historically, the government of Pridnestrovie has respected the will of their pro-Moldovan inhabitants.

Likewise, the historically Moldovan city of Bender (Tighina in Romanian) and the villages of Kitskani, Mereneshti and Gyska on the right bank of the Dniester are today part of Pridnestrovie because their inhabitants made that choice in rural assemblies and an earlier independence referendum. Since 1990, these right bank areas have been under the exclusive jurisdiction of Pridnestrovie and the local population has steadfastly refused to obey any laws or decrees originating from Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.

By drawing the borders this way, Pridnestrovie respects the popular will of the people who live here. This, rather than imposing rules from the outside by use of force, is in line with proposals made by the Council of Europe. On 16 September 2005, referring to the settlement of the Pridnestrovie's status, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe noted that that "any solution must accord with the popular will as expressed in fully free and democratic elections."

Parallels from around the world

While it may seem strange that ethnic Moldovans want no truck with Moldova, it is not so strange when we look at similar situations from the rest of the world. There, the same is true.

Small Gibraltar, next to Spain, is one such example. Spain has a territorial claim on Gibraltar, but the inhabitants want nothing to do with Spain. In a 1967 referendum, Gibraltarians ignored Spanish pressure and 99.6% of voters voted to remain free of any Spanish rule. This even included the vast majority - more than 80% - of Spaniards living in Gibraltar.
More recently, in a second referendum held in 2002 by the Gibraltar government, 98.5% of the voters rejected any proposal to share sovereignty between with Spain. Although several thousand ethnic Spanish live in Gibraltar, only 187 YES-voted were counted (versus 17,900 NO-votes).

On the other side of the dam, the story repeats itself. In Puerto Rico, most Puerto Ricans prefer the current arrangement. Hawaii, which was an independent kingdom before being incorporated into the United States, has a small independence movement. But even the Native Hawaiian population, roughly a quarter of the population, like things just the way they are. Then there are the Mexicans in California, Arizona, and Texas; areas which used to be part of Mexico in the past. A small independence movement, La Raza, wants these lands returned to Mexico. But the movement fails to find any traction because, just like ethnic Moldovans in Pridnestrovie, the ethnic Mexicans who now live in the United States have no wish to rejoin their brothers on the other side of the river.

Although there are a few exceptions, the majority of ethnic Mexicans in the U.S. like the fact that the Rio Grande river marks the border and have no wish to change that. In Pridnestrovie, the majority of ethnic Moldovans like the fact that the Dniester river marks the border and have no wish to change that.

Nativeborn ethnic Moldovan leadership

For all of Pridnestrovie's 16 year existence, much of the top leadership has been in the hands of ethnic Moldovans. Right from the start, in 1990, the vice-president, the chairman of Parliament, the minister of the interior, the minister of defense, and many of the members of parliament where ethnically Moldovan. Some of the ethnic Moldovans in Pridnestrovie's leadership include the country's first vice-president Alex Karaman and one of the founding fathers of the nation, Grigori Maracutsa.

Valerianus Tulgar, an ethnic Moldovan, is a member of Pridnestrovie's parliament and also president of the Union of Moldovans in Pridnestrovie, the country's largest federation of clubs and organizations supporting the rights of ethnic Moldavians. The organization reflects the majority view of its members whose statements have consistently supported independence and sovereign statehood for Pridnestrovie.

Moldovans have always had a place in Pridnestrovie, and for the vast majority of them, that place is apparently comfortable enough for them to want to stay there.
Even the official name of the country is a nod to its large minority: Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica, when translated, is the Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic.

The Moldovan language is established as one of the three official languages in Pridnestrovie's constitution. In schools [2], all children learn three languages: Bilingual education is mandatory, and from the second grade onwards, a foreign language is also taught.

Pridnestrovie declared independence on 2 September 1990, a year before the formation of today's Republic of Moldova. Its territory has never been part of an independent Moldova at any time in history, and had already left the Soviet-imposed MSSR (Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic) by the time the Republic of Moldova came into existence.

Ask the ethnic Moldavians who live in Pridnestrovie if they would want to unite with Moldova and the answer, in nine cases out of ten, is not just "No" but "Hell No!"... In fact, for anyone to still propose a union of these two very different entities is to either be deliberately misleading or else completely unaware of the reality on the ground. Forcing to two to merge is a stillborn idea. Only Stalin, with the support of Hitler through the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, was able to do it — and even so, only at gunpoint.

Vlad Leşco agrees. "In this referendum, and every other referendum in the future, I will vote for our freedom and independence. Sure, I am Moldovan. But my country comes first. And my country is Pridnestrovie."

See also:
» Moldova's ethnic independence movement and the River of Blood [3]
» No to Bosnia: Ethnic groups agree on independence course [4]
» "Patria Moldova" joins other ethnic Moldovans in support of PMR independence [5]