Transnistria or Transdniester (Russian: Приднестровье (Pridn'estrov'ye), Romanian Transnistria, referred to as Stânga Nistrului (Left Bank of the Nistru) by official Moldovan sources) is a region in eastern Europe. The name comes from it being the area of Moldova east of the river Nistru (Dniester).
Political status
It is considered internationally to be part of Moldova, and previously part of the Moldavian SSR, but has declared independence as the Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic, with a capital at Tiraspol. The region has a Slavic-speaking majority, who fear unification with Romania, but has a large minority of 43% of the population that speaks Romanian.
History
Traditionally a part of Moldavia, the area came under the control of the Ottoman Empire in 1504. It was eventually ceded to the Russian Empire in 1792. At that time, most of the population was Moldovan/Romanian, but having also a nomadic Tatar population.
The end of the 18th century marked the Russian and Ukrainian colonization in region, with the aim of defending what was at the time the Imperial Russian eastern border.
After the Soviet Revolution, the region was organised as the 'Moldavian Autonomous Oblast' in the Ukrainian SSR. Romanian speakers still made up the majority of inhabitants of the regions and Romanian-language schools were opened.
After World War II, it was included with Bessarabia into the Moldavian SSR in exchange for the Southern Bessarabia ("Bugeac"), which was included in the Ukrainian SSR.
During the Soviet era, Transnistria suffered as many ethnic Romanians were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan and were replaced by Ukrainians and Russians. Most of the industry that was built in the Moldavian SSR was concentrated in Transnistria, while the rest of Moldova had a predominantly agricultural economy. In 1990, Transnistria accounted for 40% of Moldova's GDP and 90% of its electricity production.
The 14th Soviet army has been based there since 1956 and was kept there after the fall of the Soviet Union to safeguard what is probably the biggest weapons stockpile and ammunition depot in Europe (which was set up there back in the Soviet times for possible operations on the Southestern Theater in the event of World War III). Russia is rather half-heartedly negotiating with Transdnistria and Ukraine for transiit rights to be able to evacuate the military material back to Russia.
The civil war
In 1989, the Moldovans in the capital of Chişinău, often called Kishinev in English, declared Moldovan – actually Romanian – to be the official language and talks began regarding reunification with Romania. The Slavs on the left bank of the Nistru (Dniestr) River declared their own "Soviet Republic" on September 2, 1990 and a civil war broke out in 1992, taking roughly 1500 lives. The war was ended in part by mass protests.
After a cease-fire was signed, the Russians left several thousand troops in the area as "peacekeepers": a highly controversial action, owing to the country's history of Russian occupation. Ever since, the Moldovan government has had no actual authority over the Transnistrian region.
Although an agreement with Moldova was signed in 1994 to withdraw all the Russian troops from Transnistria, it was never ratified by the Russian State Duma.
In July 2004, a Transnistrian separatist leader declared that the separatist entity would organize a referendum in the autumn of 2004 on whether Transnistria would become part of the Russian Federation -- even though the region has no common border with Russia.
2004 Crisis
The separatist Slavic Transnistrian militias began forcibly closing schools that used Romanian language in Latin script and several teachers and parents that opposed were arrested. The Moldovan government decided to create a blockade that would isolate the autonomous republic from the rest of the country. Transnistria retaliated by a series of actions meant to destabilize the economic situation in Moldova: since, during the Soviet times, most of the power plants in Moldova were built in Transnistria, this crisis generated power outages in parts of Moldova.
Currently the OSCE with as leading negotiator former Bulgarian president Petur Stoyanov are holding negotiations to resolve the situation.
Human Rights
The separatist government of Transnistria is a dictatorship with a poor human rights record, and is accused of arbitrary arrest and torture. The right of free assembly or association is not respected. Religious freedom is restricted by withholding registration of religious groups, such as Baptists or Methodists.
The 2001 presidential elections were not free. Parties and publications were banned just before the elections. The results were suspect, as in some regions it was reported that Igor Smirnov collected 103.6 percent of the votes.
Population
Population of the region is 633,600 (2001). At the last census of 1989, the population was 546,400.
Apart from the colonization of Russian people who worked in the industry built by the Soviets here, Russians were encouraged to buy a house and retire here in order to take advantage of the less harsh weather (when compared with most of Russia). This is one of the reasons why about 2/3 of the current population are past the age of retirement.
Ethnicity
- Moldovans (Romanians): 43%
- Ukrainians: 28%
- Russians: 25%
Economy
The GDP is about $420 million [1] and the GDP per capita, based on the exchange rate, is $662, making the area slightly wealthier than Moldova overall but still one of the poorest parts of Europe.
See also
External links
Official sites
Profiles
Others
Last updated: 08-31-2005 05:40:14
