Constitution |
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International recognition of Transnistria (also known as Pridnestrovie) – a disputed region in Eastern Europe located between Moldova and Ukraine – is controversial. Although Transnistria declared independence in 1990, no United Nations member recognises its sovereignty and the region is considered by the UN to be part of Moldova. Currently, only Abkhazia, the Republic of Artsakh and South Ossetia recognise its independence, all themselves states with limited recognition. Despite not officially recognizing Transnistria's independence, Russia has close relations with Transnistria and even established a consulate in the territory. The Council of Europe considers the region a Russian-occupied territory.
Main article: Political status of Transnistria |
In 1990, a Pridnestrovian Moldavian SSR (PMR) was proclaimed in the region by a number of conservative local Soviet officials opposed to perestroika. This action was immediately declared void by the then General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova, including Transnistria, became independent. The PMR side said Moldova's declaration of independence was ill-conceived and that it considers the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact to be null and void. The PMR side argues that if this is so, then the Moldovans themselves had agreed to relinquish Transnistria, as this territory never belonged to Moldova, nor to Romania before the signing of the agreement between the USSR and Germany.
During the Transnistria War some villages changed hands between the PMR government and Moldova proper. PMR forces have often clashed with Moldova's representatives.
Government documents from Transnistria state that the republic has "established and maintained friendly relations with countries seeking recognition." To this end, it said that relations would continue to develop in a friendly manner with the three states/political entities it has relations with: the Republic of Abkhazia, the Republic of Artsakh, and the Republic of South Ossetia.
It sought to have relations with other foreign countries and international organizations, especially those of Europe, which were seen as "of paramount importance". The pro-European orientation was a consequence of a "general understanding of fundamental values of the world civilization. A lot of Pridnestrovian foreign interests lie in this area. The importance of a harmonic inclusion of Pridnestrovie into the international democratic community makes necessary an active cooperation." Another avenue of importance was cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe because its importance "as a mediator in the negotiation process between Moldova and Pridnestrovie... in ensuring regional stability." Transnistria's goal was to "rest on the European experience in the future for its positive political, economic, scientific and technical, and cultural development."[1]
Transnistria is member state of the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations. The government of Moldova does not actively prevent or seek to prevent representatives of other states from interacting with the government of Transnistria.[2]
Entity | Date of recognition | Notes |
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Abkhazia | 22 January 1993 or before[note 1] | Mutual recognition.[3] |
South Ossetia | 12 October 1994 or before[note 1] | Mutual recognition.[3] |
Entity | Date of recognition | Notes |
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Artsakh | 4 July 2001 or before[note 1] | Mutual recognition.[1][4] |
State | Notes |
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Albania | Along with other states on the Council Common Position 2009/139/CFSP of 16 February 2009 Albania supported "renewing restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova."[5] |
Belarus | Officially Belarus does not recognise Transnistria as independent.[6] De facto Belarusian corporations and officials treat Transnistria as independent.[7][8][9][10][11][12] |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Along with other states on the Council Common Position 2009/139/CFSP of 16 February 2009 Bosnia supported "renewing restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova."[5] |
Croatia | Along with other states on the Council Common Position 2009/139/CFSP of 16 February 2009 Croatia supported "renewing restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova."[5] |
Georgia | Along with other states on the Council Common Position 2009/139/CFSP of 16 February 2009 Georgia supported "renewing restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova."[5] |
Liechtenstein | Along with other states on the Council Common Position 2009/139/CFSP of 16 February 2009 Liechtenstein supported "renewing restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova."[5] |
North Macedonia | Along with other states on the Council Common Position 2009/139/CFSP of 16 February 2009 North Macedonia supported "renewing restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova."[5] |
Moldova | Moldova's Prime Minister Vlad Filat wanted to see the Russian army presence replaced with an international civil mission and hoped for European support.[13] Deputy Prime Minister Victor Osipov said that Moldova was a European problem. When the EU passed the Lisbon Treaty and created the new position of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy he said "The results of these efforts (to have more powerful tools for an effective foreign policy) will be very important, along with the place that the Transnistrian problem will occupy on the agenda of the EU and its new institution. Our task here is to attract attention to the Transnistrian problem, precisely so that it will occupy a higher place in the foreign and security policy agenda of the EU. We will always seek a solution through peaceful means, but we should never forget that we are talking about a conflict. We are talking about an administration [in the city of Tiraspol] that has and is developing military capabilities and a very fragile situation that could deteriorate and create risky situations in the East of Europe. This affects the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Russia and Romania – because Romania is not indifferent to the developments – and other countries from the region. Experiences from other frozen conflicts show that it is not a good idea to wait until a major incident happens."[14] |
Montenegro | Along with other states on the Council Common Position 2009/139/CFSP of 16 February 2009 Montenegro supported "renewing restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova."[5] |
Norway | Along with other states on the Council Common Position 2009/139/CFSP of 16 February 2009 Norway supported "renewing restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova."[5] |
Russia | Dmitri Medvedev said he supported "special status" for Transnistria and recognised the "important and stabilising" role of the Russian army.[13] There have been calls from Russian figures to recognize the separatist republic.[15] However, to date, Russia officially recognizes Moldovan sovereignty over Transnistria. | During a visit to Kyiv, President
Serbia | Along with other states on the Council Common Position 2009/139/CFSP of 16 February 2009 Serbia supported "renewing restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova."[5] In November 2015 Serbian politicians participated in a conference in Tiraspol. At the end of the conference, those politicians adopted a resolution, which proclaimed that the "Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (PMR) and the Republic of Serbia are interested in broadening their multifaceted cooperation with the Russian Federation, including in the military-political sphere."[16] |
Turkey | Along with other states on the Council Common Position 2009/139/CFSP of 16 February 2009 Turkey supported "renewing restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova."[5] |
Ukraine | Leonid Kravchuk said that Ukraine would guarantee the independence of Transnistria in case of a Moldovan-Romanian union.[17] Over the following two decades Ukraine had an ambivalent relationship with Transnistria. In 2014, then Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that Pridnestrovie is not a sovereign state, but rather, the name of a region along the Ukraine–Moldova border.[18] In 2017, Transnistrian president Vadim Krasnoselsky said that Transnistria had "traditionally good relations with (Ukraine), we want to maintain them" and "we must build our relations with Ukraine – this is an objective necessity".[19] | In June 1992, then Ukrainian President
Organization | Notes |
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European Union | European Union took note of and welcomed "the objectives of Council Common Position 2009/139/CFSP of 16 February 2009, renewing restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova".[5] The EU was asked to restart negotiations for the 5+2 format.[13] |
Commonwealth of Independent States | In June 2015, the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Nikolay Bordyuzha, said that "[there] is no military solution to [the] Transnistria conflict. If a war breaks out in the region it will last for a long time and cause great bloodshed."[20] |