OSCE-supported study points to vibrant, active civil society

Political freedom and civil society has grown strongly in Pridnestrovie since 2001, a new OSCE-funded study reveals

CHISINAU (Tiraspol Times) - Political freedom is alive and well in Transdniester (Pridnestrovie), with a growing civil sector and an active plurality of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) active within the unrecognized country. OSCE, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and Rezonans, a Tiraspol-based NGO, jointly unveiled a catalog mapping out the current state of civil society in Pridnestrovie, also known internationally under the names Transnistria and Transdniester.

The findings reveal a vibrant, active civil society with a plurality of views and activities, ranging from the political to activism and religious issues.

The NGO catalog for Pridnestrovie was published with the financial support of the OSCE, following research which took place over the past five months within the country. Most of the work was done by the Centre for Development and Support of Civic Initiative “Rezonans” from Tiraspol, with help from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE.

" - The past five years has seen a strong growth in civil society and the private non-profit sector," said Iuliana Abramova, the centre’s director. Most of the non-governmental organizations have been registered in the period between 2001 and 2006, “a fact which confirms the tendency of rapid development of this sector in the last few years.”

The rapid growth of political freedom and democracy since 2001 testifies to Pridnestrovie's willingness to pursue plurality and democratic and a democratic development which many independent observers believe is still deficient, but better than neigboring Moldova. While Pridnestrovie is improving, Moldova, Europe's poorest country, has an increasingly authoritarian government which holds the dubious world record of having lost the largest number of cases before the European Court of Human Rights on a per-capita basis.

The study includes a comprehensive list of 285 non-governmental organizations from Transdniestria. It includes data on their naming, legal organization form, the year they were formed, their address and other contact info, leadership data, field of main activities, etc. Nearly half (127) are based in Tiraspol, followed by 86 in Bender - the country's second largest city - and just over 30 in Dubossary.

According to information published by the OSCE, the survey was carried out between August and December 2006 with the financial support of the OSCE Mission. It gathered detailed information on the NGOs active within PMR. The catalog, which contains all information in Russian and English, was distributed to the press at a presentation held 14 February 2006 at the headquarters of the OSCE Mission.

Griping from Moldova: "It's a sham!"

Predictably, Moldova was not happy with the publication of the latest findings. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Moldova continues to claim that there is no free and independent civil society in "the Eastern region of Moldova" as it often refers to Pridnestrovie, refusing even to dignify the area with a name.

In Chisinau, a former Moldovan advisor to the presidency made it clear that his country won't accept as valid the existence of a civil society which is not loyal to Moldova's ruling elite:
" - This publication is an attempt to legalise the Transnistrian regime," claimed Moldovan nationalist and ex-presidential spokesman Oazu Nantoi in an interview to Info-Prim-neo.

" - It is an attempt to show that the regime has a more democratic face," insisted the political spin-doctor and former presidential advisor. Unwilling to accept that the people of the region has a strong opinion on their own future, he attacked the existence of NGOs which he said "have the purpose of liquidating Moldova as a state," not mentioning that the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica was never part of an independent Moldova at any time in history, and declared independence in 1990, one year before the Republic of Moldova came into existence.

" - If Moldova can't come to grips with the new findings, that is hardly our problem. They can choose to be stuck in the past, if they want. With their empty hate-slogans and their ideological blinders. Meanwhile, we are moving forward independently, towards a democratic future with more and more plurality and civic involvement in building a free, tolerant and independent state," declared Petru Gladchi, a civil society activist from Tiraspol.

The director of the study, Iuliana Abramova, is also affiliated with NGO World Window, a local group which has been funded by the George Soros Open Society network. (With information from IPN)

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