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From the left: MP Peter Pasat, Andrei Tarna of Patria Moldova, MP Valerianus Tulgar (Photo: vspmr.org)TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - Back in Tiraspol from a conference of expatriate Moldovans, MPs Peter Pasat and Valerianus Tulgar reported broad support for Pridnestrovie's wish for independent, recognized statehood.
Moldovans who live abroad view Pridnestrovie's independence wish more favorably than the Moldovan leadership based in Moldova's capital Chisinau.
During the the third annual congress of the "Patria Moldova" party, more than 800 delegates and guests supported the statement of Patria Moldova leader Andrei Tarna who said:
" - I call on the President of Moldova, Vladimir Voronin, and on parliament and the government of Moldova, to immediately recognize the independence of a de facto second Moldovan State, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, and thus resolve the Transnistrian issue once and for all, and then seek good neighborly relations in all spheres of life: economic, political, social, and building capacity for a future Moldovan confederation,"
The political situation in Moldova, the resolution of the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian conflict, as well as employment rules for foreign citizens were high on the agenda for the congress. The encounter of expatriate Moldovans with PMR Members of Parliament took place in Moscow on 21 April 2007. The thid annual Patria Moldova congress has approved the resolution to set up an inter-ethnic coordination Council – the Union of Diasporas. The leaders of NGO Patria Moldova are to draft and submit an appropriate proposal to all national NGOs operating in the Russian Federation.
- Moldovans are 31.9% of Pridnestrovie's population
On behalf of other ethnic Moldovans Peter Pasat said “This group provides legal and advisory aid to approximately 45,000 citizens of Moldova and Pridnestrovie living in the Russian Federation. Patria Moldova cooperates with Moscow's authorities and successfully solves problems with jobs and housing facing the citizens of Moldova and Pridnestrovie.”
Peter Pasat is Vice Chairman of Pridnestrovie's Parliamentary Committee for economic policy, budget and finance. He is also part of the leadership of the opposition party Renewal (Obnovlenie, in Russian) which won a surprise victory in parliamentary elections in December 2005 and now has control of Parliament. Supporters of PMR's current President, Igor Smirnov, make up a minority in Parliament.
In their presentations to the congress, ethnically Moldovan delegates from Ukraine, Gagauzia and Moldova proper spoke about negative after-effects of the policy pursued by the Government of the Republic of Moldova by its lack to take the self-determination wish of Pridnestrovie into account.
Valerianus Tulgar, the second member of PMR's Parliament to attend the conference, also testified to the unwillingness of Moldova's leadership to amicably resolve the conflict between Moldova and Pridnestrovie, or Transnistria, as it is unofficially called in Moldovan and Romanian.
Moldovans make up a minority of 31.9% in Pridnestrovie, which declared independence in 1990 during the break-up of the Soviet Union. The rest of the population is majority Slav, principally made up of ethnic Ukrainians and Russians. The unrecognized country was part of Kievan Rus and has alternately also belonged to Slavic countries such as Poland, Russia and Ukraine in the past. It was never part of Romania or of any independent Moldovan state at any time in history. (With information from vspmr.org)
See also:
» Mixed feelings in Moldova on Transdniester right to independence [1]
» Patria Moldova joins other ethnic Moldovans in support of PMR independence [2]
» Andrei Tarna: "As a Moldovan, I want Moldova to respect Transnistria's wish for independence" [3]