"State of National Equality". How Pridnestrovie celebrated its 30th anniversary
The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic celebrated its 30th anniversary. It was proclaimed on September 2, 1990 at the II Extraordinary Congress of Deputies of Transnistria at all levels. This was preceded by the adoption of a language law in Moldova, according to which Moldavian was translated from Cyrillic to Latin script, becoming practically indistinguishable from Romanian, and received the status of the only state language. Moldovan nationalist politicians started talking about the need for Moldova to secede from the USSR and the possibility of its joining Romania.
Fearing such a development of events, the residents of Transnistria decided to create their own republic, which included the left bank regions of Moldova and the right bank city of Bendery.
Chisinau unsuccessfully tried to return Transnistria under its control by force. In 1992, after the bloody war on the Dniester, a peacekeeping operation under the auspices of Russia began in the region - and is still ongoing.
Today Transnistria, an uncharted state with a population of just under half a million people, lives and works. It is not legally recognized by the international community, and recognition is not yet in sight. Nevertheless, the republic has the attributes of statehood, independently provides for all spheres of life, trades with almost the whole world, holds elections, and participates as an independent party in negotiations on a settlement on the Dniester.
We asked Pridnestrovian experts what, in their opinion, the republic has managed to achieve in 30 years and what it has failed to achieve.
Andrey Safonov, political scientist, deputy of the Supreme Council of the PMR.
– Over the past 30 years, a state of national equality has been created in Pridnestrovie. The Pridnestrovian political nation began to take shape from citizens of various nationalities. In this regard, the PMR can be called a state of a new type, which was formed not by order from above, but on the basis of initiative from below. In this case, the leading role was played by local bodies of representative power represented by the Councils of People's Deputies. Relying on support from below, Transnistria proved its viability during the 1992 war, when Chisinau nationalists were unable to win over the Transnistrian Moldovans. It turns out that the nationalists put forward ideas that were more flawed than the bearers of the idea of equality of all residents of the Republic. We managed to grow our management personnel and create all the necessary state institutions, although before that we often heard: “Pridnestrovians have neither the experience nor the trained people to become a full-fledged state.” The predominantly urban culture of the region worked for the Pridnestrovians, which turned out to be more modern than the rural-patriarchal habits of the Moldovan national bureaucracy.
At the same time, it was not possible to provide such an economic breakthrough that would allow it to go far ahead of Pridnestrovie’s neighboring countries. Here we must also talk about objective reasons. First of all, about the absence of a common border with the PMR’s ally, Russia. However, Transnistria still remained a social state, with feasible protection of the population, in contrast to those who adopted a purely liberal model of social development.
Finally, Transnistria was not crushed by its ill-wishers, despite repeated such attempts. The existing margin of safety allows the PMR to count on successful economic development in the future, which will enable the return of some of those Pridnestrovians who previously left their homeland in search of a better life.
Andrey Mospanov, Deputy Director of the Institute of Socio-Political Research and Regional Development.
The main result of the past 30 years is that Pridnestrovie did not allow itself to be imposed on that primitive nationalist agenda that almost all countries of the former USSR have faced and which is hopelessly pulling them back.
The first president of the PMR, Igor Smirnov, liked to repeat that, having fought off Moldo-Romanian nationalism in 1992, “Pridnestrovians retained the right to live in their native land and speak their native language.” In his speeches, in the end, this was already perceived somewhere as a common cliche. However, the events of recent years in Ukraine have once again shown: the right to live on one’s own land, speak one’s own language and generally have a civil peace is not an empty phrase. Transnistria has many internal problems, but we do not have divisions along ethnic lines or aggressive nationalism . And this gives us a chance.
Transnistria failed to build a state that would be noticeably superior in its social standards to other countries in the region - Moldova and Ukraine. Although we could probably at least try. But the Transnistrian political elite lacked moral strength and state mentality. Her main motive was often personal enrichment. In this regard, the path of Pridnestrovie is no different from other post-Soviet countries. The results are similar: there is a large stratification of income between different groups of the population, the social sphere is stagnating.
What is the future of Transnistria? Political geographers today identify three main features of statehood. These are ancestral territory, internal sovereignty and external sovereignty. Internal sovereignty means that the rules established in a given territory are recognized by its population. External sovereignty, in turn, presupposes that these rules are recognized by other states. Transnistria still has no or almost no external sovereignty. And in these conditions, internal sovereignty comes first. That is, the fate of the PMR will ultimately depend on how much our population will continue to support the Pridnestrovian state idea, the state institutions of the republic and those who represent these institutions today.
Vladimir Yastrebchak, ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Transnistria (2008 – 2012).
Pridnestrovie managed to solve a key task - to ensure human rights within the framework of its own statehood and in the absence of other effective mechanisms for the protection of human rights during the collapse of the USSR. An effectively functioning system of state power has been formed, a state with developed social, educational and other systems has been created “from scratch”. The Republic partially acquired international legal personality and became a full participant in the negotiation process in various formats, in bilateral and multilateral relations with other states. In Transnistria, a free democratic transit of power is ensured, in accordance with the will of voters. Finally, it was possible to create and strengthen a new community (identity) - the Pridnestrovians.
The main thing that was not possible to do was to protect people from death in 1990-1992; create conditions in full so that the main capital of Pridnestrovie - people - remain in the country; achieve final international recognition.
Anatoly Dirun, scientific director of the Tiraspol School of Political Studies.
Transnistria is 30 years old. What is unique is that the de facto state has proven its viability. The peculiarity of Pridnestrovie is in its institutions. 30 years ago, popular self-determination, the principle of initiative from below - through referendums, through elections, through a strike - all this was literally innovative on the territory of the Soviet Union, and the foundation that was laid then turned out to be quite strong.
But now, in my opinion, these institutions need to be restarted. If 30 years ago we could create a republic on the basis of self-government, today our institutions in many ways no longer correspond to the reality that has developed within the republic and around it. And the further we delay reforming institutions and defining fair rules of the game, the closer we will find ourselves to a situation similar to the one that is developing in Belarus, to what events in Moldova periodically show - a decrease in the legitimacy of power and its takeover with the help of the “orange” technologies.
We, of course, will not get to this point, but we must remember that if recognized, albeit weak, states have a way to correct their mistakes, then for a state that exists de facto, one systemic error can be fatal. The future of Transnistria seems to me complex and at the same time interesting. There is still an opportunity to restart the system that was founded 30 years ago. If we do this, we will get a charge for another 30 years.
Natalia Skurtul, journalist, media expert.
30 years. Usually, by this age a person already looks back appraisingly and draws an intermediate line: what he could do, what happened, and what remained in his dreams. Pridnestrovie as a state could also sum up some results of this serious stage of life.
We can say that everything started beautifully and promisingly. But those who lived here and felt firsthand the “charms” of the formation and formation of statehood, remember that they constantly had to tighten their belts, waiting for progress in the matter of recognition, obtaining citizenship of the beloved successor of the USSR, in order to feel like a full-fledged person and with pride, according to Mayakovsky, “get it out of your pants”...
Unfortunately, over the years, a generation has grown up that does not fully understand who they are, where they should go and who needs them at all.
What has been achieved in 30 years? The main thing, it seems to me, is to maintain peaceful coexistence, without the sound of firing guns, no matter how pretentious it may sound. I don’t want to voice any other slogans or celebratory cliches today: we have not become a little Switzerland, but in terms of economic development indicators and the level of well-being of citizens, we proudly stand somewhere among the countries of the African continent. Yes, we have advanced industries, but the elderly do not have enough money for food and necessary medicines. Yes, we are building parks and fountains on an imperial scale, but the sidewalks near houses, along which thousands of people walk every day, remain broken.
People usually don’t say such words on a birthday, but if we deceive ourselves, then for a long time we will not achieve what we dreamed of for our children and elderly parents. Or perhaps we will come, but not in this country. And I don’t want to leave this incredibly beautiful and fertile land.
I would like to wish Pridnestrovie to be prudent, independent, responsible, honest with its citizens, and then everyone living here will proudly hang the Pridnestrovian flag in their window or on their balcony, and tell people outside the republic what a heavenly place it is.
And also, you know, dear Transnistria, no matter how difficult it may be, no matter what trials befall us, we still love you - and very much! I really want to believe that you are us too.
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