Kosovo precedent for Transdniester, says Pres.

Tiraspol, the capital of unrecognized Transdniester: "More legal and historical right to independence than Kosovo", says Smirnov

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - As Kosovo is pushing for independence, a precedence is being shaped in international where self-determination and democracy wins out over the opposing principle of territorial integrity. At the same time, independence looks like it'll be recognized in a case of secession even when the metropolitan state disagrees.

" - The Kosovo precedent will be important for us," said Igor Smirnov, President of Pridnestrovie. As reported by the Associated Press, he maintains that Pridnestrovie, which is also known as Trans-Dniester or Transnistria, has an even better case for independence than Kosovo.

Others in the know confirm that Kosovo will indeed set a precedent. Mahmoud Othman, a senior Kurdish member of the Iraqi parliament, explains that eventual independence for Kosovo "will establish a legal principle" in international law.

The United States and European Union are trying their best to dismiss this. The man who planned Kosovo independence, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, said he did not believe a precedent would be set by granting the province independence. "No two problem areas are the same," he said.

Pro-independence leader Igor Smirnov, the current President of Pridnestrovie (unofficially also known as Transdniester).

Nevertheless, Kosovo's future looks set to have far-reaching effects. Where international law is concerned, there is no law for one party which can then be denied to others. The argument that "no two problems areas are the same" is essentially only a political argument. It has little to do with law, say conflict resolution specialists, because law operates on the opposite principle - law functions best when justice is truly blind.

" - Kosovo's independence would certainly have broad and destabilizing consequences for many other secessionist conflicts," says Bruno Coppieters, head of the Political Sciences Department at Brussels Free University. Coppieters is a specialist in unresolved post-Soviet territorial claims, having written extensively on Pridnestrovie and Abkhazia, among others.

The U.S. and EU insist Kosovo is a special case because it has been a United Nations and NATO protectorate following an invasion in 1999.

" - A new Security Council resolution would clearly specify that this was a unique case not applicable to other regions," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said in a recent interview, adding that "Kosovo will be independent one way or the other."

No border changes through war

If Kosovo independence is a direct result of an act of aggression - the 1999 war - then that in itself is contrary to international law. The most fundamental rule holds that peremptory norms of general international law are binding on all parties.

In the case of the former Yugoslavia, the prevailing standards of international law were defined very clearly at a very early stage by the Badinter Arbitration Committee, named for its chair, which ruled on the question of whether the Republics of Croatia, Macedonia, and Slovenia, who had formally requested recognition by the members of the European Union and by the EU itself, had met conditions specified by the Council of Ministers of the European Community on December 16, 1991.

The Badinter Committe, in its Opinion No 3, stated that: "According to a well-established principle of international law the alteration of existing frontiers or boundaries by force is not capable of producing any legal effect."

Kosovo gained its 'de facto' independence from Serbia as a result of war. It is now trying to get 'de jure' independence.

In contrast, Pridnestrovie (Transdniester) became independent in 1990 through a democratic referendum followed by a peaceful declaration of independence. The declaration did not involve war, and no one was killed at the time. Moldova did not accept the declaration, and in 1992 tried to put an end to Pridnestrovie's peaceful 'de facto' independence. This led to a war when Moldova sent troops over the Dniester river in an attempt to impose its sovereignty upon its 'de facto' independent neighbor.

" - Although there was a war, this wasn't started by us," says Petru Gladchi, a civil society activist in Tiraspol. "I was just a kid at the time, but I still remember. Moldova sent tanks and airplanes against us. They entered Pridnestrovie. We never entered Moldova, we didn't bomb their towns and villages, and we certainly never wanted to impose our sovereignty on them. We just wanted them to respect our declaration of independence, just as we had respected theirs."

Kosovo precedent confirmed

A new State created from war is invalid, says international law, and this would seem to rule out independence for Kosovo. Pridnestrovie, which was already 'de facto' independent before Moldova's failed 1992 invasion, doesn't have that problem: Although lacking international recognition, it declared independence peacefully, as the result of a referendum among the inhabitants.

As such, Pridnestrovie - or Transdnestr, as some call it - is on more solid legal ground than Kosovo. But if Kosovo independence goes forward as the U.S. wants it to, experts agree that it will inevitably set a precedent despite assurances to the contrary.

Josu Erkoreka, a parliamentary spokesman in Spain - which currency holds the OSCE presidency - confirms that Kosovo is a precedent. He calls this "very good" and a "a very positive development," bringing more freedom and democracy to a world that needs it.

Othman, in Iraq's parliament, says it is wrong to claim that Kosovo is somehow special. Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees. In February, he repeated that independence for Kosovo would be taken as a precedent by others, including Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh. He did not mention Pridnestrovie, since technically Pridnestrovie is not looking to break away from Moldova. Pridnestrovie declared independence one year before the current Republic of Moldova even existed, and has never at any time in history been part of an independent Moldovan state. (With information from AP)

See also:
» No precedents in the unique case of Transdniester
» Igor Smirnov: "We have a stronger case for statehood than Kosovo"