Two decades of the sovereignty of the Pridnestrovie Moldavian Republic are a dramatic and instructive experience of an alternative development of a territory, politically unrecognized, but having all the political and economic features of a state. Pridnestrovie is marking the 20th anniversary of its independence these days.
It is an interesting and important fact, that Pridnestrovie did not declare itself an independent state in the first place, but a union republic within the Soviet Union, from which the people of Pridnestrovie did not want to secede. This was the main difference between Pridnestrovie, situated on the left bank of the Dniester, and Moldova on the right bank, where nationalistic passions were boiling at that time and the main trend was to secede from the USSR and join Rumania.
Unlike Kishinev, the capital of Moldova, Tiraspol, the capital of Pridnestrovie, did not want to become a Rumanian province. Pridnestrovie had historical and cultural ties with Russia and wanted to stay together with it in one state, the Soviet Union. When at the end of 1991 it became clear that the Soviet Union did not exist any more, Tiraspol announced an independent Pridnestrovie Moldavian Republic.
Alexey Vlasov, the head of the Centre of Studies of the Post-Soviet Territories, considers an established statehood the main result of the 20 years of Pridnestrovie’s existence:
”Pridnestrovie has proved itself to be a state due to its effective organs of power, electoral system and developed economy. I believe that Pridnestrovie has a full right to be named a state.”
Pridnestrovie inherited an advanced industry from the Soviet Union but the economy of the republic strongly depends on political geography. Pridnestrovie is a narrow strip of land along the left bank of the Dniester, with a small “appendix” on the right bank with the city of Bendery. Not having access to the sea, Pridnestrovie is squeezed between Moldova in the west and Ukraine in the east.Sometimes this grip tightens painfully.
When the pro-Western President Yushchenko was in office in Ukraine, Kishinev found common ground with Kiev in the “economic strangling” of Pridnestrovie. Their transport blockade of Pridnestrovie was a severe blow to the republic, causing economic and also humanitarian problems.Peaceful settlement with Kishinev is complicated by the distrust that the people of Pridnestrovie feel for their neighbour. This distrust is based on the Moldavian authorities attempt to force Pridnestrovie to obedience in 1992.
The war lasted for several months and resulted in numerous casualties. Only the Russian Army’s interference stopped the bloodshed. Since then, Russian peacemakers have been protecting peace in the zone of the conflict.International intermediaries participate in the talks on the status of Pridnestrovie, among them Russia, Ukraine, the USA, the OSCE and the EU, but there are no visible prospects of changing the status of Pridnestrovie so far. Anyway, this is not an obstacle for the Pridnestrovie Moldavian Republic to celebrate its 20th anniversary of independence.
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