Transnistrian Conflict on September 27 – October 17, 2004

On 29 September, the Transnistrian authorities registered the two Moldovan Latin script lyceums from Tiraspol and Ribnita as foreign educational institutions. The lyceums were registered for one year at their old addresses. Because the premises of both schools are not functional — those of Tiraspol lyceum have been devastated when taken by force by the Transnistrian militia in mid July, and those of the lyceum in Ribnita are still under construction — their pupils have been transferred temporarily to other Moldovan schools in Tiraspol and Bender.

In spite of the resolution of the schools problem and a follow up call by the Transnistrian administration to restart negotiations, President Voronin reaffirmed within a press conference on 29 September the refusal of the Moldovan Government to ever negotiate with the Transnistrian administration and reiterated the desire of the official Chisinau to change the five-sided negotiations format, which has proven inefficient. Moreover, President Voronin declared that the idea of solving the Transnistrian issue through federalisation was obsolete. He said there were “other ways and means” of resolving the conflict, but failed to name any.

A few days later, the official Tiraspol announced its intention to organise a referendum to decide whether to continue the dialogue with Chisinau on setting up a federation or concentrate its efforts on the international recognition of Transnistria. According to Olvia-press, the foreign policy committee within the Transnistrian Supreme Soviet is to develop within one month the mechanisms of holding the referendum. Last July, the head of the Transnistrian “foreign ministry” Valeri Litkai, declared that if negotiations with Chisinau would fail, Transnistria might call a referendum to determine its “political orientation”.

On 11 and 12 October, upon the initiative of the OSCE CiO, Solomon Passy, a meeting of the mediators in the Transnistrian problem — Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE, took place in Sofia, which discussed the current situation around Transnistria. According to a communique from the Russian Foreign Ministry, the mediators adopted a joint statement in which they expressed their deep concern with the interruption of the negotiations process last summer and called for the resumption of talks that would work out solutions according to the principle of preservation of sovereignty of Moldova and the provision of a special status to the Transnistrian region.

Later in the week, President Voronin met with Steven Mann, Special Negotiator of the US State Department for conflicts in Eurasia, who, according to a release by the presidential press department, reaffirmed US support for the resolution of the Transnistrian problem according to the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty of Moldova. The release, however, did not mention any specific solutions that the US would support. On the same day, Mann met with the head of the Transnistrian “foreign ministry” Valeri Litcai. According to the official Transnistrian press-agency Olvia-press, Mann declared that the US plead for the preservation of the current negotiations format and for the resolution of the Transnistrian problem on the basis of the federalisation principle.

Meanwhile, in Tiraspol took place a series of manifestations on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the first statehood in the Transnistrian region — the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova. The Transnistrian leaders have used the occasion to celebrate the 14th anniversary of statehood of the so-called “transnistrian moldovan republic”. During a “historico-scientific” conference on this topic, the Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov reiterated Transnistria’s intention to organise a referendum on the future status of the region. “The official Chisinau has intensified economic and political pressures upon us. Offences against the Transnistrian people and its leaders have multiplied. Under these circumstances, it is obvious that reunification with Moldova is out of question”, told Smirnov the conference, quoted by Infotag. Earlier, the Centre for Social and Political Investigations “Perspectiva” published the results of a sociological poll conducted in Transnistria, according to which more than half of the respondents were against reintegration, 35% would accept it under certain circumstances, and only 8% supported reintegration without any conditions. At the same time, 71% pleaded for the independence of Transnistria, 60% agreed to Transnistria becoming a Russian protectorate, and 27% — to a Ukrainian one.

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Transnistrian Conflict on September 27 – October 17, 2004

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