For Moldova and Transdniester civilized divorce best solution

Among voters in Transdniester, more than 9 out of 10 reject being part of Moldova. Even ethnic Moldovans prefer independence.

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - In Tiraspol, civil society and government now consider a joint or common state with Moldova to be impossible. Echoing the sentiments of the majority of the population, Transdniester's current President Igor Smirnov declared that there is no longer any chance of a common state between Moldova and Transdniester. Although Transdniester was, until recently, willing to enter into a joint state with Moldova, this is no longer a possibility due to recent Moldovan aggression. At this point in time, the best outcome for both sides is to negotiate the terms of a civilized divorce.

During a press conference with foreign journalists, Smirnov briefly outlined the history of Transdniester and the reasons which led to the declaration of independence of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), also known as Pridnestrovie for short. He spoke about the initial "ethnic terrorism initiated by hardline nationalists in Moldova against non-Moldovan minorities" and the military aggression which followed after Pridnestrovie (Transdniester, unofficially) declared its independence. During the 1992 war, Transdniester defended its 'de facto' independence successfully but suffered heavy losses. Most of the victims in the war fell on the Transdniestrian side, with Moldova - the attacker - only bearing a smaller number of losses.

Igor Smirnov also spoke of the stalled status resolution talks which Moldova walked away from in 2006, right before the country initiated what Smirnov described as an economic blockade of Transdniester.

" - We consider this aggression through economic warfare, and a rupture by Moldova of the jointly signed memorandum of 1997 between us. Moldova was accepted as a member of the World Trade Organization, WTO, only after it showed the international community the 1997 memorandum, but now Moldova is breaking all its obligations towards PMR, and supplements its budget due to our industrialists."

To a question from journalists about the possibility of a union between Moldova and Transdniester, the president stated that for the past 16 years, Moldova and PMR have developed separately. They became such different states that at the current time, a joint state is now impossible. First, Transdniester and Moldova have different foreign police goals: The Republic of Moldova wants to join the European Union and NATO, whereas in Pridnestrovie the majority of voters have stated in a 2006 referendum that they prefer independence and closer ties with Russia.

" - At the end of the eighties, and in the beginning of the nineties, we proposed the creation of a common free economic zone," said Smirnov. "But this was rejected by Moldova."

" - Then, in the years that followed, we asked for autonomy, federation, confederation - but none of our proposals were supported by Moldova. Not a single one. First, Moldova's leaders rejected the Primakov plan. Then they rejected the Kozak memorandum. Now, quite simply, our people are no longer interested in presenting any more options that would see Moldova and Transdniester come together in a a combined entity," says the PMR President.

2003 proposal accepted by Transdniester

In the spring of 2003, Russian President Vladimir Putin had named Dmitri Kozak — at that time the deputy head of his presidential administration — as his special envoy to Moldova. Kozak had a clear mandate: to find a solution to the frozen conflict that had emerged in 1992 after a short war between Moldova and the historically non-Moldovan Transdniester.

The Kozak memorandum that resulted from the negotiations offered a real prospect for a peaceful solution by turning Moldova into a federation, with Transdniestria reconstituted as an autonomous republic within Moldova — and also by guaranteeing the official status of the Russian language as a second language, as a way to guarantee the language rights of the mostly Slavic- and Russian-speaking Transdniester.

Transdniester had agreed to the terms of the 2003 settlement, but nationalist Moldovan parties were scandalized by such a prospect - and so was the West, for reasons which have never been fully explained. Under pressure from the American Embassy and from the American head of the OSCE Mission in Moldova, Vladimir Voronin was persuaded not to sign. This was as close as Transdniester and Moldova ever came to a common state. Since then, prospects for a union have deteriorated sharply.

Moldova left the ongoing status settlement negotiations in February 2006, bringing the talks to a halt. Shortly thereafter, Moldova instigated an economic blockade, as a way to pressure Transdniester to accept settlement on Moldovan terms. The blockade, which is backed by the European Union and by Ukraine, caused export and revenue losses to Transdniester of more than $500 million in the first year alone. Although Moldova now wants the status settlement talks to resume - the same talks which Moldova caused the failure of, by leaving them in the first place - negotiators representing Transdniester have declared that they will not negotiate under pressure. The PMR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Valeri Litskai, has made it clear that Transdniester refuses to be held hostage to economic blackmail. He has also stated that negotiations are unlikely to yield any fruits as long as one of the parties to the talks, Moldova, is using economic pressure as a negotiating tactic.

Transdniester (officially: the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica) declared independence in 1990, one year before the current Republic of Moldova was formed. It is also known under names such as Transnistria - in Romanian - as well as Transdnestr, Transdniestria and Trans-Dniester, after the Dniester river which for more than a thousand years has formed a historical border in the region.

Among voters in Transdniester, more than 9 out of 10 reject being part of Moldova. Even among the ethnic Moldovan minority in Transdniester, most (not all) prefer independence. (With information from The Nixon Center)

See also:
» Transdnestr future to be decided by its people, says Parliament
» As democracy spreads, new countries will be born