 | "THEY BEAT US UP" ... 18 years ago, minority members from Pridnestrovie were part of Moldova's Parliament. They ended up in the hospital. [more] |  | | |  | AN ANCIENT CIVILIZATION once existed on the left bank of the Dniester. Find out how, for more than 5,000 years, the river formed an international border between two separate and very distinct cultures. [more] |
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Independence referendum in PMR declared valid
By mid-afternoon Sunday, Pridnestrovie's central election commission declared the country's independence referendum valid. With a preliminary turnout of 58.8% by 3:00 p.m., the plebiscite passed the fifty percent barrier imposed by the Constitution. 174 international observers and 215 journalists are monitoring the vote.
President Igor Smirnov casting a vote for independence in Tiraspol, 17 September 2006TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - Voters in Pridnestrovie, approximately twice the size of Luxembourg, cast ballots Sunday in a referendum that will determine whether this unrecognized country should continue pursuing its goal of independent and internationally recognized statehood.
At least 50 percent of the country's 390,000 registered voters must cast ballots to validate the referendum. By 3:00 p.m. local time (12:00 GMT), election authorities announced that the referendum was valid, noting at the time a recorded turnout of 58.8% of the electorate. Later in the day, by 6:00 p.m., turnout had grown to just over 70.0% with polls still open.
The country's overwhelmingly independent-minded voters were expected to overwhelmingly back the initiative, which is supported by all of the political parties. Voters began trickling in early Sunday to cast their ballots as the polls opened under sunny, blue skies.
Moldova, which maintains a territorial claim on Pridnestrovie, has said it will not recognize the results. The European Union and the United States are also spurning the plebiscite, afraid that it could set a precedent for democracy and self-determination in other ex-Soviet republics.
Moscow, the most influential country in this part of the world, said the referendum should be recognized as a democratic expression of the people's will and as a symbol of their frustration at the stalled talks with Moldova.
In Pridnestrovie, voters were being asked whether they want to continue the region's independent course with the goal of an eventual free association with Russia, or throw in the towel on independence and join Moldova, which many here perceive as a foreign oppressor. Moldova's state language is Romanian, whereas Pridnestrovie is mostly Russian-speaking and nearly 60 percent of its residents are ethnic Russians or Ukrainians. Moldova invaded the area in 1992 in an attempt to bring it under the Moldovan jurisdiction. In the war, an estimated 1,000 people were killed before a ceasefire was brokered and the Moldovan troops withdrew.
- Long lines of vehicles at PMR-Ukraine border checkpoints
Shortly after the referendum was declared valid, reports came in from the border of more people attempting to cast their vote. Long lines of vehicles have formed at border checkpoints between Pridnestrovie and Ukraine, a correspondent of Gazeta-Ru reported, citing observers at the international press office in Tiraspol. According to the data, “citizens of Pridnestrovie, temporarily residing or working in Ukraine, are trying to reach their polling stations before they close” in order to cast their ballots in the referendum for independence of the republic.
With hundreds of foreign journalists and international observers monitoring the referendum, the vote is a sign of the political self-awareness of the strongly independent people of Pridnestrovie. A large observer mission from Kosovo, led by a leading politician and former cabinet official, expressed support for Pridnestrovie's independent statehood on Saturday.
Pridnestrovie is following the precedents of the former Yugoslavia, where voters in Montenegro have opted for independence and talks in Kosovo are likely to lead to a similar result.
" - We are trying to duplicate the experience from Kosovo," Valeri Litskai, Pridnestrovie's foreign minister said on the eve of the vote. "We are looking at them and they are looking at us."
215 journalists from 17 countries have been accredited at the Tiraspol International Press Center, Regnum reports. Journalists from USA, Great Britain, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, and other countries cover the event. IPC leaders highlight the transparency of the vote, noting that nobody has yet complained to state authorities or the Central Electoral Committee for restricting journalists’ access to information.
Preliminary results will be made public early Monday, but the overwhelming majority of Pridnestrovie's predominantly Slavic population are expected to support independence. The country, also known as Transnistria, has suffered under hostile policies by Moldova and an attempt to halt PMR-processed exports (mostly raw steel, brandy and shoes) in a move which most people here view as a heavyhanded economic blockade.
A conference held at the European Parliament in Brussels concluded that unrecognized states like Pridnestrovie need a way to be heard by the world. "It is necessary to create and sustain permanent mechanisms of involvement and consultation of unrecognized state entities in the international community". This will benefit everyone, says the event's official statement. . . 
