PMR decided to "shout until they are heard"; referendum statement

Voters in Tiraspol campaigning for their positions in advance of Sunday's independence referendum

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - An official statement from Russia's Foreign Ministry resonated with the feelings of the residents of Pridnestrovie, also known Transnistria, on Wednesday. In the text, the country recognizes that democracy is the best way to build a society, naming the ham-fisted and unilateral actions of Moldova and Ukraine against PMR in the economic field as the reason why settlement talks are deadlocked.

The text notes that on 17 September, residents of Transnistria will take part in a referendum, the seventh in the last sixteen years. It then comments on the fact that much of the outside world has condemned this vote a priori, before it has even been held and without being present; and - what's worse - without even showing the slightest interest to show up and see for themselves if this is actually a free and fair vote.

The words from Moscow strike a chord with ordinary citizens in Tiraspol who have previously expressed surprise over the fact that self-appointed democracy experts are quick to condemn something which they haven't even shown the slightest interest to see first-hand for themselves, and that the fundamental concept of democracy is undermined by passing this kind of uninformed and premature judgment.

What the foreign ministry says

Tiraspol Times is normally reluctant to reproduce official government documents verbatim, and more so in the case of Russian statements, lest we be called a mouthpiece for the Kremlin.

However, in this particular case - after a meeting of the editorial board - we made the decision to diverge from our usual practice in order to provide our readers with the contents of a document which sheds light on key points related to the September 17 referendum in Pridnestrovie. In this context, we remind our readers of the words of PMR Foreign Minister Valeri Litskai who believes that the key to effective conflict resolution starts with understanding Pridnestrovie's view of the issues, and since the latest statement from Russia's Foreign Ministry was well received in Tiraspol, we feel that it is in everyone's interest for this newspaper to reproduce it.

" On 17 September, residents of Transnistria will take part in a referendum, the seventh in the last sixteen years. Chisinau and a number of European capitals have hastened to declare the upcoming vote "illegitimate" and "provocative," indicating unwillingness to recognize its results, although a striving to ascertain the population's attitude regarding principled issues directly concerning their fate is perceived in recognized democratic states as an important legal basis for civil society building.

The decision by Transnistria's leaders to consult with their people ought to be viewed in the context of the overall developments in the political situation within the region, where attempts have been noted recently to impose a unitary settlement model and arbitrarily replace the existing mechanisms for ensuring security. In so doing, political and economic leverage is being openly used in breach of fundamental OSCE principles and the understandings reached earlier as part of the negotiation process for Transnistrian settlement.

The initiative for this referendum, put forward at the Sixth Congress of Transnistrian Deputies at All Levels, was the logical upshot of the decision of Chisinau and Kiev unilaterally to toughen the regime of access by Transnistrian industrial plants to external markets and actually bring them into the legal field of the Republic of Moldova. The new customs rules have had an adverse impact on the Transnistrian economy and put the region's economic and social programs in jeopardy that were financed solely out of its own budget and tax receipts from incomes of export-oriented enterprises.

Most Transnistrians psychologically reacted to the situation that arose as an economic blockade, which for political reasons many in the world did not want to notice. Hence they in Tiraspol as an unrecognized subject of international law but an equal party of the negotiation process for political settlement decided through a national poll to "shout until they are heard" by the international community. In contemporary Europe it is hardly correct and politically far-sighted to ignore, even less so treat disrespectfully such a form of expression of the people's will.

The various statements about negative consequences of the plebiscite for the prospects of a solution to the Transnistrian conflict distract from what matters most - the need for the soonest normalization of conditions for the foreign economic activity of Transnistria, which the Russian side has been urgently calling for, and restoration of the negotiation process with the participation of Chisinau and Tiraspol to develop a comprehensive and sustainable political settlement model. "

In an earlier message, just days ago, a spokesman for the same ministry reminded the world that it must accept the fact that there is a growing level of political self-awareness in Pridnestrovie today. Russian Foreign Ministry representative for relations with the CIS countries, Valery Kenyaikin, said on Thursday that Russia views the upcoming referendum in Pridnestrovie on September 17 as confirmation of a political life there.

" - Our Western partners, who are averse to this referendum, have repeatedly tried to discourage us from taking part in monitoring of the referendum. The Russian Foreign Ministry is of the view that the matter does not concern official or unofficial involvement or recognition or non-recognition. The matter concerns a fact of political life, which, like it or not, we will have to recognize," Kenyaikin said at a press conference last week.