Transnistria, The Forgotten Conflict

The Transnistria region conflict is almost unknown and with very little coverage in the media. This is a very old conflict that started in the early 1990’s.

On27 April 1991 theTransnistria region declared its independence from the Republic of Moldavia. During the winter of 1991 and the spring of 1992 a civil war ensued between the Moldavian police and the Russian-speaking inhabitants of Transnistria. The 14th Russian Army as well as some volunteers and mercenaries from the old Soviet Union helped the Transnistrians. The result was that Transnistria declared itself an independent republic, with the support of the Russian Army. It is a self-declared state without any international recognition.

Since then, there have been moments of tension between all neighbouring countries involved in the initial conflict.

The most recent one took place in July of this year. The decision of the separatist government from Transnistria to close six Romanian-language schools started a big diplomatic crisis for all neighbouring countries. Romania, Russia, Republic of Moldavia and Ukraine are increasing all their diplomatic activities in order to negotiate a peaceful resolution of this old conflict, but under the smog curtain of the conflict is hidden much profitable criminal activity.

In order to understand and analyze the conflict it is necessary to go deeper in this incident with the schools.

Talia Delgado
Romania - 23/04/2005
  Schools closed down

On 26 July the military police irrupted into a Tighina high school to shut it down after aggressive measures (such as cutting off the electricity and water for one week) had failed to make the school close down by itself. This school has a special situation because it is dedicated to teaching children from poor families and also serves as a home for 300 orphans. As a consequence most of the teachers decided to host some pupils in their homes and a group of 60 students broke into the school and barricaded themselves inside in protest. The Military police also established perimeter control points in order to prevent teachers, pupils and/or demonstrators from accessing the school.

The third school was closed on the 27 of July in the town of Rabnita. This time six teachers and parents were detained for questioning. They were part of a group of 50 demonstrators, including students, who had occupied the building to prevent its closure by the Transnistria authorities. The other three schools were closed without incident.

The reason for closing the schools offered by the Transnistrian leaders, who are Russian and Ukrainian speakers, is that the schools must register as private institutions offering foreign language instruction. The Transnistria education minister Yelena Bomeshko declared that the schools were closed down because they failed to obtain an education license from the regional authorities. In fact the current dispute is related as much to the alphabet as to the language. In the 90’s the Moldovan authorities declared that the Moldavian Language was a language that, while similar, was separate from Romanian. However, they continued using the Latin alphabet. The majority of Moldavian schools in Transnistria, on the other hand, use the Cyrillic alphabet.

This decision to close the Moldavian language schools caught the authorities of the Republic of Moldavia by surprise because as recently as the 24 of June there was a signed agreement between Tiraspol and Chisinau (capital of Republic of Moldavia) to allow the schools situated on Transnistrian territory teach the Moldavian language.

The decision of the Tiraspol separatist government on the 2nd of August to close all the train, bus and road connections with Chisinau and the South of Moldova added more tension to the conflict after Chisinau threatened to impose sanctions if Tiraspol did not allow the schools to continue teaching. Tiraspol considered the threat of sanctions to be a declaration of war: "it can not be ruled out that if Chisinau plays its cards wrong, that this situation will end in a bloodbath" said the government of Tiraspol.

The closing of the schools started a chain reaction of condemnations and declarations from neighboring countries, authorities and other international institutions involved in the tensions between Tiraspol and Chisinau.

International Community reactions

The president of Transnistria, Igor Smirnov, declared that "All the schools in the region must respect the state laws".

For their part the Republic of Moldova government reply to this message warning Tiraspol that "we will stop the free circulation of certificates and the transit of products coming from Tiraspol enterprises, as well as a temporary suspension of all economical transactions".

In Romania, where the conflict is being followed carefully due to the proximity of the Republic of Moldova, (which shares the Romanian language) president Ion Iliescu declared, "the attitude of the non-legitimate government of Transnistria cannot be tolerated, mainly because they are in violation of international law and of the most basic human rights. They are trying to start an ethnic cleansing campaign".

He also appealed to the Russian Federation to mediate the conflict and to talk to the Transnistrian government in order to solve the conflict through diplomatic means.

After the person responsible for education in the Republic of Moldavia made a personal petition to the Russian president Vladimir Putin, Russia declared that they firmly condemn the Tiraspol attitude and the decision to close the schools. They also asked the Tiraspol government to restart negotiations with Chisinau and to stop the closure of schools in order to defuse the situation and to allow the schools to continue normal operation before the new school year starts.

On the other hand, the European Union warned the Trasnistrian authorities that strict sanctions would be imposed if they do not solve the situation. The first of these sanctions has already begun; all members of the Tiraspol government are prohibited from traveling within EU territory. The EU and USA also made a common petition to Russia, Romania, and Ukraine to help the negotiations initiated to solve the conflict . The OSCE chief of mission in Moldavia, William Hill, declared "The Transnistrian separatists’ actions do not have any justification and I firmly condemn the recent increase of tension with the Republic of Moldavia".

Follow up of an old conflict


It is very difficult to understand all the details of this new crisis without analyzing the historic circumstances, the geographic situation of the neighbouring countries and the conflict of political and economical interests between Tiraspol and Chisinau in this new chapter of an old situation.

First of all we have to examine the historical context. To do this we need to go back to the 90’s and the collapse of the ex-Soviet Union.

In 1990, one year after the Romanian Revolution, the Republic of Moldavia declared independence from the Soviet Union. This made the Slavic populations of the Republic of Moldavia fear that Moldavia was thinking of a possible reunification with Romania.

This was the reason why local elites, some politicians from the old Communist Party and the leaders of the military industry complex, decided to start a separatist government of the Russian speaking inhabitants of the region of Transnistria in order to create their own republic.

On 27 April, 1991 the Transnistria region declared themselves an independent republic of the Republic of Moldavia. During the winter of 1991 and the spring of 1992 a civil war developed between the Moldavian police and the Russian speaking inhabitants, who were helped by the 14th Russian Army as well as some volunteers and mercenaries from the old Soviet Union.

This bloody conflict ended with thousands of deaths and major damage to the infrastructure of the area. On the 13th of July, 1992 the Presidents of Moldavia and Russia agreed to send peacekeeping forces from the Independent States Union (Soviet Union). They agreed to create a security zone supervised by the peacekeeping forces, but the paradoxical point is that this agreement was against the international laws of peacekeeping. According to international law, peacekeeping forces must be composed of neutral forces, but the military forces involved in the peacekeeping effort came from Republic of Moldavia, Transnistria and the Russian Federation, none of whom were neutral. So the mission of the forces changed completely, and they became conflict-keeping forces. Under the cover of this peace action, troops from the separatist region have being obtaining advantages and the formal government is a regime that has continued to violate basic human rights and foment the state of violence.

Under this agreement they also established a partial withdrawal of the Russian Army 14, to end the conflict. Only the status of Transnistria was considered to be a part of future negotiations. In actuality the Russian army still occupies more than 12% of the territory of the Republic of Moldavia.

Transnistria, current situation

Situated on the east side of the Dniestr river, Transnistria is a territory of 500 square kilometres where Russians and Ukrainians are more than 2/3 of the 800.000 habitants. Nearly 32% of the population of Transnistria have Romanian as a mother tongue. Transnistria is a concentrated and important part of the Moldavian industry, comprising most of the enterprises related to military components.

Transnistria has failed to achieve recognition from the international community and is treated as an outlaw state governed by criminals. Its political regime has been accused of being authoritarian and anti-democratic. Transnistria has also been blamed for contributing to the Moldavian economy by exporting their mafia activities and also of having illegal control over valuable energy resources and different industrial enterprises.

In recent years international pressure to solve the confrontation between Tiraspol and Chisinau has increased. Transnistria has become an insolated state politically, economically and militarily. Meanwhile the EU and OSCE are still trying to find an agreement that can satisfy both sides.

Transnistria has managed to avoid all this international isolation and to develop a prospering economy by attracting private investors to the area (such as US companies).

Moldavia today

The Republic of Moldavia is one of the poorest parts of Europe. With nearly total unemployment the registered daily income of 80% of the population is below 1$ per day.

This fact can explain why desperate people sell their organs for money and sex trafficking is increasing. Moldavian prostitutes are the main export of the country.

According to Moldavian statistics 10.000 people leave the country each month never to return. In the past Moldavia was trading with Russia and was valued for their agricultural resources and products. After their independence this situation changed drastically. They fomented foreign investments and, while the free market was not doing well, the Transnistria region experimented a prosperous period, due mainly to the fact that the only industry and the main sources of power were situated in this separatist region. But after Transnistria opted for a free market their populations sunk to the same miserable conditions as their Moldavian neighbors.

Russia and Ukraine’s role in the conflict

After the 14th Army helped the separatists of Transnistria to get their independence, the Russian government did not offer support to the Tiraspol government. One of the key issues in ending the conflict between Chisinau and Tiraspol is the withdrawal of the Russian 14th army from Transnistria. Recent attempts to withdraw the troops have failed for various reasons. Tiraspol is asking Russia to cover the cost of transporting the army and weapons back to Moscow while Moscow wants the Transnistrian government to pay the debts of oil and gas made to Russia before the troops withdraw. Russia provided Transnistria with these basic products due to the lack of resourses in the area.

The Republic of Moldova sees the failure of Russia to remove their troops as a hidden plan by Russia to recover control of the Republic of Moldova.

Tiraspol is accusing Moscow of refusing to help them in hopes of fomenting a new policy of reconciliation with Washington in the new War on Terror.

Ukraine has a more indifferent position in the conflict. Ukraine is denying help to the Tiraspol government after some disputes over customs duties where Tiraspol allegedly took advantage of no taxation laws. Ukraine has allegedly decided to stop illegal trade from entering Transnistria over the Ukrainian border. The decision came after Ukraine was internationally sanctioned by EU institutions for facilitating the illegal activity.

The search for a solution

There are many different proposals for a solution coming from both sides of the conflict and international organizations such as OSCE, EU and Human Rights associations are mediating these proposals. The negotiations still have a long way to go before a final decision can be made that will satisfy both sides.

The government of Chisinau has always insisted that the status of Transnistria should be as a province of the Republic of Moldova. On the other hand, the Tiraspol separatists have demanded a federative model comprised of two equal states. Finally after years of negotiation, Moldavia has suggested forming a federation with Transnistria, whereas Transnistria now supports the idea of a federal state.

The Tiraspol proposal consists of a classic federal state with two equal states and a common parliament formed by federative organs of power. Each state would have their own customs authority, army and departments dealing with licensing, trade and industry. This is one of the most important point of negotiation for Tiraspol, due to the fact that each time investors try to implement economical activities in Transnistria they have to suffer a double tax system, paying for exports and license two times: one to the Tiraspol government and another one to the Republic of Moldova that do not recognize the authority of Tiraspol. Also, this double tax system has been used a long time for Chisinau to put pressure in the negotiation process.

As part of the Chisinau proposal is the retirement of the Russian army and de demilitarization of the Transnistria. Transnistria has also suggested that the official languages should be Russian, Moldavian and Ukrainian. Additionally, Transnistiria suggests holding a referendum on the respective declaration. In the event of this declaration being approved, the federal state would be considered constituted beginning with the date of referendum; after this, it would be important to also negotiate a common constitution.

The Minister of External Affairs Rousan Slobodeniuc considers that "The Republic of Moldavia will never accept the equality between both states. From my point of view, it will be so difficult to decide where will be the federal capital and how many deputies on each side will form the parliament".

He also considers that the proposal of Transnistria is going in accordance with the EU requirements to integrate these states as future candidates. ”If they accept this proposition both sides can benefit from Eu, instead of delaying the process even more.”
Negotiations are still running without any concrete agreement.

War of interests

The interests of other countries subtly surround the conflict. The conflict is economically and militarily within the Western strategic orbit.

One of the countries that are indirectly interested in the conflict is Romania, whose main objective is to enter the EU in 2007. The geographic position of Romania makes it the last country before the Russian border. This fact when looked at from a strategic point of view makes Romania a very interesting consideration in NATO and EU agreements of security. This strong desire to be part of EU makes the Romanian government worried about its proximity to a conflict region that could involve Romania. Another important consideration is the security pact with NATO and the compromise to guarantee peace in the area.

USA is another interested country, mainly due to the large number of American businesses operating in Transnistria. USA is supporting the idea of a federal state because this would eliminate the double taxation system and this would allow the US to increase its business activities and projects in the area. Another reason for supporting the idea of a federal model is that the threat of the Russian control or at least the presence of Russian troops in the area would be diminished. Another point of interest for the US, besides economic interest, is a strategic one. Ending the conflict creates the possibility of establishing agreements to build military bases near the Russian border. The USA is not involved on one side of the conflict. They are also negotiating with the President of Moldavia, Igor Voronin, whose desire to be part of EU is making him more open to any kind of Western advice and support. He is a frequent visitor to Washington and has also sent Moldavian troops to Iraq in September 2003.

On the other hand the EU is anxious to keep peace in Europe (specially after the war in Yugoslavia) and also to control a number of illegal activities originating in Moldova and Transnistria (human, organs and weapons trafficking). It also has a strategic interest in guaranteeing safe borders and an economical motivation similar to that of the USA. Investors from various EU countries (Spanish electricity companies, and French and German communication and food companies, among others) have found a gold mine of opportunity for business in this area that could increase if the conflict is finally solved.

But despite all this it seems that the different countries are trying to benefit from the conflict, rather than solve it. A famous political analyst in the area, Petru Bogatu has pointed out that both Transnistria and Moldavia are playing the same game, and going farther in his theory, his analysis of the situation suggests that the Presidents of each country have a personal interest in keeping the conflict going.

After this latest chapter of closed schools, Bogatu suggested that it is the result of a secret agreement between the two Presidents Vladimir Voronin (Republic of Moldavia) and Igor Smirnov (Transnistria). He is convinced that the tension between both countries is very convenient for the Presidents. On Sminov’s side, keeping the relationship with Moldavia deteriorated will force the situation to the point where Russia will recognize Transnistria as part of their territory (this is a long term plan for the President to integrate Transnistria into the Russian States Federation).

On Voronin’s side, a “noisy conflict” will help create compromise between Russia, UE, USA and Ukraine and create a stability pact that guarantees peace in Moldavia, eliminating the security responsibilities of Moldavia in the conflict area.

The real conflict is not a conflict

The situation between Tiraspol and Chisinau cannot be explained without taking the economic aspect of the problem into consideration. After the conflict of 1992 there were cases where legal entities benefited from the chaotic situation and the absence of law in the zone of conflict led to the appearance of illegal commercial transactions and the area started to become a free economic criminal area.

These factors created favorable conditions for these illegal economic activities practiced by criminal structures, corrupt officials (in both sides of the conflict) and institutional criminals (official authorities on both sides of the conflict).

The main interest behind fomenting these criminal activities was determined by enormous amounts of ammunition and weaponry coming for the different communist satellite countries (Eastern countries mainly) of Ex- Soviet Union.

This fact creates favorable conditions for the illegal trade of weapons (as an example some were sold to different armies in the Yugoslavia and Chechnya conflicts).

In Transnistria these illegal activities were monopolized by certain economic structures that worked closely with the separatist leaders and under their protection. The fight for the control of these profitable activities generated large amounts of violent crime. Many businessmen and chiefs of criminal structures were assassinated. All these crimes still exist today but it is almost impossible to document them.

But there are other kinds of criminal activities that can be documented. These are activities that involve the governmental structures of the Republic of Moldova, such as the traffic of goods through different borders, such as the borders of Romania, Ukraine and Russia. This agreement between the two countries and the mutual benefits can explain the precarious economic situation in both countries and the high level of corruption in all the government bodies.

To establish this system of goods trafficking, the separatist regime of Tiraspol, under the cover of peacekeeping forces, has established different customs offices all over the territory to control the entrance and exit of goods in Transnistria.

Obviously illegal trade through Transnistria has become a big and profitable business for both countries and whoever was trying to stop this practice was just killed (on the 2nd July 1999 Eugen Grosu, Head of Customs of the Republic of Moldova was killed after trying to stop some contraband goods coming from Transnistria).

Another important source of illegal activities in both countries is the electricity sector. The main electricity producer is the thermo-electric power station of Cuchugran in Transnistria. This power plant offers huge opportunities for stealing public money and for reselling the electricity produced to customers outside the country or for increasing prices on the local market.

All these operations in Trasnistria can appear legal due to the collaboration of the Republic of Moldova, who is offering legal entities from Transnsitria certificates from the Republic of Moldova (certificates needed to export products to EU, open banks accounts in Moldavian territory, among other things).

While considering these facts it would be easy to think that the Transnistria conflict could be solved by economic sanctions made by the Republic of Moldavia. The Republic of Moldavia creates all the conditions necessary for legal entities situated in the areas under the control of separatists to function without any obstacles, and Transnistria benefits from the financial income of these activities. These finances allow Transnistria to defend itself.

It is clear that the Republic of Moldova, as well as Transnistria, has no interest in solving the conflict.

To the public opinion this is presented as an ethnic or borders conflict, when in fact what is going on benefits both sides. The leaders of both countries benefit financially.

The critical economic situation and the poverty are the only real conflict that is actually happening in the Republic of Moldavia and Transnistria.

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