Transnistria

In Context 

• The Ukraine war casts shadow over Transnistria as security alerts sow fear.

  • Transnistria risks being drawn into the Russia-Ukraine war because of reports of a series of explosions in its territory

Where is Transnistria?

• It lies between Moldova to its west and Ukraine towards its east. 
• Often described as a “remnant of the Soviet Union”
• It declared independence like Moldova did soon after the break-up of the Soviet Union. 
  • When Moldovan troops attempted to take over the territory in 1990-1992, Transnistria was able to resist them because of Russian soldiers based in Transnistria. 
  • Since then, it has remained free of Moldovan control. 
• However, most countries continue to see Transnistria as part of Moldova.

The political make-up of Transnistria

• Independence: 
  • Transnistria is not recognised as independent even by Russia and its economy is dependent on Russia for subsidies and free gas. 
• Citizenship: 
  • Most Transnistrians have dual citizenship of Russia and Transnistria or triple citizenship of Moldova, Transnistria, and Russia. 
• Language: 
  • Unlike the rest of Moldova, which speaks Romanian, the majority of people in Transnistria speak Russian and use the cyrillic script like Russians.
• Governance:
  •  It has its own government (which is pro-Russian), Parliament, armed force, constitution, flag, anthem, etc. 
  • In a referendum held in 2006, over 97% of Transnistrians voted for future integration with Russia and after the annexation of Crimea, the government asked if it could be absorbed into Russia. Russia, however, was not keen on this.
  • But Transnistria is host to over 1,500 Russian “peacekeepers” and is home to a large Russian ammunition depot at Cobasna.

Source:TH