What got Transdniestria on the list as a separate country? Merely a true evaluation of the actual facts on the ground:

In determining a radio country, the seven-member NASWA Country List Committee considers, insofar as possible, three factors: geography, politics and hobby tradition. Although in considering a particular case these factors sometimes conflict, the committee strives to reflect what it believes to be the mainstream of DXer opinion.

To the people that live there, Transnistria – or Pridnestrovskaya Moldavskaya Respublika – to use its official name, is far more than a figment of their hearts and minds, it is a living, breathing nation state with its own parliament, mint, army and culture. But to the rest of the world it is a rogue statelet which broke away from the infant republic of Moldova in an effort to retain the old securities of the Soviet era and preserve their Slavic heritage.

So says Mike Gale, a British photographer who has visited Transdniestria three times and put up an extensive website with photos and video from his trips. Among the more interesting finds: He handed out a number of disposable cameras to locals, and then put some of their pics online.

“While I did meet some people I liked, Moldova is the least happy country on the planet,” Weiner says. “People go to great lengths to see their neighbors fail.”

Yes, neighbors such as … Transdniestria.

“Completely seriously, it is a very morose place. I’ve never been so glad to leave a country.“

Like Weiner, Transdniestria seems quite glad to also have left Moldova. They want independence, and they have clearly no interest in a joint state with Moldova.

Why? Weiner gives us a clue:

Moldovans feel as if they have no place in the world. So they have built a society based on a national lack of trust and friendship.

For 2007, GDP was 6,789 million PMR rubles (approx. US$799 million) and the GDP per capita was about US$1,500.  Year-on-year GDP increased 11.1%. Inflation was 19.3%. (Source: ‘’Socio-economical development of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic,'’ statistical service of the Ministry of Economy, Tiraspol 2008.)

So … Growth is clearly strong, and far better than Moldova’s for these two years. But not all is positive: Transdniestria’s government budget for 2007 was US$246 million, with an estimated deficit of approximately US$100 million which was covered mostly through income from privatizations. This is not viable in the long term, and international loans are hard to come by for the PMR government while its sovereignty is not yet internationally recognized.

Should Transdniestria once again be allowed free trade and should it obtain internationally recognized sovereignty, then the sky is the limit for this “Russified Luxembourg.”

a storage facility of obsolete weapons

and it is true that there is nothing there anymore which is worth much of anything to anybody.

There’s an interesting profile here, based on a rare visit to Kolbasna.

Well, perhaps not that rare after all … because international weapons inspectors seem to come and go, which contradicts the “popular wisdom” (Moldovan, mostly, and wholly wrong) that Transdniestria is not open and transparent.

We do not want Transdniester to become independent, because it will be like Russia. We do want Kosovo to be independent, because it will eventually be like us.

Neither statement is necessarily true. There are no hard and fast givens in world history. San Marino was a Communist state for the longest time, but - thanks to its size - not a scary one. Austria after World War II was a big concern for the West, due to the political make-up of the voting populace at the time. But reasoned commentary is boring … and throwing some raw meat to the faithful works better for the book sales:

Why do we think Kosovo deserved to be independent, while Transdniester (a breakaway region of Moldova) doesn’t? Is it solely because the Kosovan leadership is pro-American and the separatists in Transdniester are Lenin-loving Soviet holdovers?

Lenin-loving Soviet holdovers?!? Even assuming this is the case (and it isn’t, as anyone who has been to Transdniestria will know - and that includes Edward Lucas) the old evil empire somehow loses a lot of its fear factor when it is cut down to the size of just half a million people stranded between Moldova and Ukraine.

Statehood-wise, Transdniestria has better functioning government institutions and a stronger historical claim to statehood than Kosovo. And given half a chance, the place has everything going for it to become a future Russian-flavored Luxembourg.

Moldova, of course, has never had any control over Transdniestria ever since Moldova became a country in August 1991. (The Transdniestrians instead have their own government, which - within its territory - has full and effective sovereign control and a fairly well functioning state apparatus.)
These things matter if we want to find out what terms like “Moldova’s territorial integrity” refer to, and where Moldova’s real (as opposed to its fictitious) borders lie. They also matter if we want seriously to determine whether or not Transdniestria is, or could be, classified as a sovereign state under international law.

From the Moldovan press:

But Chisinau and Kiev have not yet commenced the demarcation of the 422-km-long Transnistrian border section because the official Chisinau is unable to control it.

Indeed.

This is not a fantasy world, and there is no such thing as imaginary territorial integrity.So is Moldova a state only within Moldova proper (Bessarabia, to the Dniester), or does Moldovan statehood extends across the river to also include Transdniestria?

Here’s a clue:

The monopoly on the legitimate use of violence (Gewaltmonopol des Staates, also known as monopoly on legitimate violence and monopoly on violence) is the definition of the state expounded by Max Weber in Politics as a Vocation, and has been predominant in philosophy of law and political philosophy in the twentieth century. It defined a single entity, the state, exercising legitimate authority or violence over a given territory as territory was also deemed by Weber a characteristic of state.

They flew in straight from Atlantic City, where they performed to 6,000 people at a time last week under Western Union sponsorship. In Tiraspol, the show was sold out: 1050 tickets at between $85 and $100 a pop, grossing around $100,000 for one single show.

The show in Tiraspol was customized with local music and PMR- and Russian flags in the background (not a single Moldovan flag anywhere, of course). Also unique for the Tiraspol performance: The participation of local-born ice skaters in addition to the existing international line-up. Photos here.

On 29 May 2008 the World Bank, based in Washington, announced that it will give $10M to Liberia.

And on 30 May 2008 … wait for it … Liberia announced its recognition of Kosovo.

Transdniestria’s claim to independent statehood is based on international law. Kosovo’s, it seems, is based on more worldly concerns.

Among the highlights, the “fat man in the palace” is now putting pre-conditions on dialogue:

The Moldovan president also said his country is ready to restart stalled talks with its breakaway Transdniester region “at any moment” — provided the separatist leadership first accepts broad autonomy within Moldova.

So there you have it: It is “my way or the highway“. But, sadly for Moldova, Transdniestria has already clearly shown that it prefers the highway. Over and over again, and in face of much hardship.
Fortunately, the EU is more open minded:

Ferrero-Waldner said the EU is ready to do “absolutely everything” to support the conflict-resolution process with Transdniester. But, she said, it is imperative that the two parties themselves first agree to resume talks.

Now for the ROFL moment of the day:

She said Chisinau must do more to convince the population of Transdniester of the benefits of staying within Moldova, that “they should feel that they want to be in Moldova, and this is something we have discussed very, very clearly indeed.”

I nearly split a gut laughing. There is little chance of the Transdniestrians ever wanting to be part of the world’s most unhappy country. Not even the ethnic Moldovans in Transdniestria have that warm and fuzzy feeling.

Opinion polls in Transdniestria have routinely shown the residents to want to be part of anywhere else except Moldova. Lots of them prefer joining Russia, many would not mind being part of Ukraine, and the current way towards independence scores high marks with all ethnic groups as well - even if, as today, it is a harsh “de facto” and unrecognized-by-the-outside-world independence.

Of course no EU statement is complete without one of the statements that Tiraspol (rightly?) considers cynical and examples of double standards:

Ferrero-Waldner said one positive example of such confidence-building measures has been a drive to convince Transdniestrian businesses to register with Chisinau in exchange for opportunities to export their products to the EU.

Ahem… This is the sort of “convincing” would make the Italian crime families proud. The EU and Moldova gave Transdniestrian businesses an offer they couldn’t refuse: First, we close the border and station EU troops there to make sure that no exports can make it out. Then we put a rule in place that Transdniestrian businesses have to register with Chisinau in order to be allowed to export their products.

Nice use of blunt force and MUSCLE … but “confidence building ?!?”
C’mon, Benita…

Dear Pridnestrovians, distinguished Tiraspolians!

Today, we again take to the central square of the capital of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. For the fourth time in a year we are trying to reach the conscience of our authorities.

In March of last year, they attempted to ban our rally. Activists and organizers of the popular protest were arrested and thrown behind bars. In June and November this didn’t happen. Apparently [the authorities are] aware of the fact that bans won’t stop the people from protesting. But our full power has never been realized. Our rallies are not the grandiose events to which the authorities are accustomed. People are not herded to them by the bosses’ orders and under threat of being dismissal. No “people’s love” and expensive fireworks are produced in honor of these events. Instead, the people’s protest is a serious warning to the authorities from their own people.

Yadda, yadda, yadda…
And this is just as he is getting warmed up. Hear and see his full harangue against Smirnov and Co. at the official website of the Pridnestrovie Communist Party, complete with online video.

The Commies are way out in left field on this one, and voter preferences show that Transdniestria is not going the way of Marxism-Leninism anytime soon. But what the rally and the firebrand performances of the Communist leaders make clear is that there is pluralism and open criticism of the current government in the PMR today.

Transdniestria - especially to hear Moldova tell it - is routinely portrayed as a repressive Soviet style dictatorship with no democracy and no freedom.

But that is propaganda. Transdniestria has civil rights, an elected parliament, competing parties, universal suffrage, and a fairly well functioning system of social democracy.

Broadly speaking, Transdniestria is no more undemocratic than either Moldova or Ukraine.

Moldova’s own state-run mouthpiece, Moldpres, quotes an official representative of the Moldovan military on increased collaboration between the U.S. military and Moldova, including a new project that …

fits into a bilateral programme on military collaboration between Moldova and the United States.

The announcement reveals financial support from the U.S. to the Moldovan army, and comes less than a week after another round of NATO-led military games ended inside Moldovan territory.

Collaboration with the United States’ military is not limited just to Moldova’s military. It cuts deep into the fabric of wide swatches of the Moldovan public administration: Moldpres adds that there is also participation from the Finance Ministry, Customs and Border Guards, and the Interior Ministry.

It goes on to say that -

Area currently not under the effective control of the Moldovan authorities

… the self-proclaimed “Republic of Transnistria” came into being on 2 September 1990. Since the region of Transnistria is not under the effective control of the Moldovan authorities, to whom this report is addressed, ECRI will not examine the situation in Transnistria.

Now, in his latest missive for The Economist, his Russophobia hits a new low. In it, he rails against Estonia’s Russian-speaking minority but assures his readers that “grim post-Soviet mortality rates will shrink the problem eventually.” The problem is a civil rights problem for Russian-speaking population of Estonia (whom he called “Soviet migrants stranded by the empire’s collapse” - in reality people who legally lived and worked there for decades, and many of whom were born there).

Kirill Pankratov just about sums it up:

That’s essentially saying in plain words that “Good Russian is a dead Russian”, and if something can be done to “speed up the process” (wink, wink), that’s only for the better.

This is beyond despicable.
I guess if the next time Al Qaeda will blow up some office building full of neocon “wonks” and “journalists” like Lucas, I’d be applauding “shrinking of a problem” of proliferation of war-mongering thugs.

Edward Lucas is a bit of a self-confessed graphomanic nutjob and also a fan of the bigoted (no hyperbole) anti-Russian Captive Nations Committee.

Sadly, both for Transdniestria and for a fair and objective approach to the issues facing this captive would-be nation of 550,000 people, he holds the exclusive franchise at The Economist for covering Transdniestria. So caveat lector applies to every article on Transdniestria in that particular news source.

But on April 17 Romanian President Traian Basescu has said, in a backhanded way, that Transdniestria has better grounds for being with Ukraine than with Moldova.

“If they in Kiev are intending to annex Transdniestria to Ukraine, they must take into account the necessity to bring territories of South Bessarabia and North Bukovina back to Moldova,” Basescu said.

Quick history check:

Transdniestria has been Russian since 1792.

It was part of Ukraine until 1924. In 1924, it became an autonomous republic (ASSR) within the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union.

At the time, Moldova was part of Romania.

In 1940, Stalin invaded Moldova and merged it with Transdniestria in order to bring Moldova into the Soviet Union.

The result was the newly made Moldavian SSR. Moldova, while seeking its freedom and afterwards as well, officially denounced this move as illegal.

Now, Basescu recognizes that Transdniestria was part of Ukraine in the past - and not part of Moldova. He says that if Ukraine wants it back, it must give Moldova back some of the old Moldovan lands which are now part of Ukraine. And BTW, this was never a swap … so don’t even go there.