The separatist region of Transnistria in Moldova was enjoying calm until the Russian war broke out in Ukraine (social networking sites)

Moscow

- The issue of the unrecognized Transnistria region suddenly returned to the limelight after the authorities in it went to Moscow and appealed to it to intervene to help it confront what they called the pressures being exerted on it by Moldova.

Only a few hours had passed since the authorities of the separatist region requested protection from Moscow, and the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement in which it considered, "Protecting the residents of Transnistria, the sons of our country, is one of our priorities."

Moscow does not officially recognize the independence of the region, but it maintains special relations with it in the political, military, cultural and economic fields.

As for Moldova, along with the European Union, it considers the region part of its territory, and it falls under “Russian occupation.”

Transnistria is a narrow strip of land located in eastern Moldova along the Dniester River (left bank). It is 225 kilometers long and 12 to 30 kilometers wide.

Until 1940, the territory's borders extended along the river.

The lands to the west were called Bessarabia, which was part of Romania, and to the east was Transnistria, which was part of the Soviet Union.

On August 2, 1940, after the reunification of Bessarabia with the Soviet Union, the Moldavian SSR was formed, which included the Transnistrian region.

Transnistria is located in the form of a strip on the border between Russia and Moldova (Al Jazeera)

Roots of conflict

The history of the armed conflict between Moldova and Transnistria dates back to the events of the late 1980s, when in 1989 the Supreme Council of the Moldavian SSR adopted laws on languages ​​declaring Moldovan the official and sole language in the country.

In response, workers' cooperative councils were created in industrial enterprises in the region, which organized demonstrations demanding a referendum on the issue, which was rejected by the central authorities.

It is worth noting that Transnistria was overwhelmingly inhabited by Russians and Ukrainians.

Because of this, the region's representatives strongly opposed this decision, considering that the Moldovan authorities discriminate against them on the basis of language.

In addition to all of this, perestroika (a program of economic reforms) in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s was accompanied by a wave of political activity and the growth of nationalist sentiments in many republics, and Moldova was no exception, as movements emerged demanding autonomy, independence, the translation of the Moldovan language into Latin, and the union. With Romania as a return to historical roots.

After the adoption of the controversial language law, strict forced "settlement" of non-Moldovan ethnic groups began.

The mainly Russian-speaking population of Transnistria was not happy with these changes, especially as talk of unification with Romania escalated.

Residents of Transnistria organized protests with calls to give the Russian language the status of a state language, as well as to abolish the Latin alphabet in writing.

It was also proposed to hold a general referendum on the territory of the region unilaterally and without waiting for the approval of the authorities in Moldova.

From January to October 1990, several rounds of voting were held, later called a referendum, in which approximately 80% of citizens with the right to vote participated.

96% of them supported the establishment of the Republic of Transnistria, and in return Moldova declared the referendum illegal.

It was striking that those who desperately wanted to remain in the Soviet Union did not receive any support from Moscow at that time.

The clash

In the fall of 1990, the first armed clashes took place between Moldovan government forces and fighters from the unilaterally declared territory.

It was striking that both sides were still considered part of the Soviet Union, which later collapsed, at the end of 1991.

The conflict between Moldova and Transnistria escalated in 1991, against the backdrop of an attempted coup carried out by the State Emergency Committee on August 19-21, 1991. In the Moldovan capital, a “local coup” in support of the central coup in Moscow failed, and in response to this, demands for secession began. Moldova for the Soviet Union.

For its part, the Transnistrian government supported the coup group in Moscow and said that it exclusively recognized the leadership of the USSR.

The bloody and fierce events and battles that took place in the city of Bandir in the region from June 19 to July 22, 1992 entered history as the largest tragedy to occur since the beginning of the conflict.

According to various sources, during the conflict between 200 and 750 people were killed on both sides, more than a thousand were injured, and about 100,000 were forced to leave the area.

Russia intervened in the conflict and stopped the bloodshed, and there were repeated calls from the residents of the region where the Russian 14th Army is stationed.

Opinions differ on whether Moldova itself agreed that the conflict should be resolved through external intervention.

As a result, on July 21, 1992 in Moscow, with the participation of then Russian President Boris Yeltsin, the two parties signed an agreement “On the Principles for Resolving the Armed Conflict in the Transnistria Region of the Republic of Moldova.”

At the beginning of 1997, and with Russian mediation, negotiations began between the two parties regarding the final settlement of the situation in Transnistria, and ended on May 8 of the same year with the signing in the Kremlin of a memorandum normalizing relations within the framework of a common state, within the borders of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic for the year 1990. However, not much progress has been made.

Black Sea winds

Since then, a peacekeeping operation has been carried out on the banks of the Dniester River, which has been described as the most successful operation in Europe, due to the uniqueness of its structure. It is a joint peacekeeping operation that includes the parties to the conflict represented by Moldova and Transnistria, as well as Russian military personnel and military observers from Ukraine, before it was suspended. Kiev later made its soldiers work, due to the war with Russia.

However, tensions began to return to the region again in 2022, due to the geopolitical situation in the Northern Black Sea region as a whole, including the conflict in Ukraine.

The forces of the separatist region are considered the rear of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and on the other hand, the "second front" in the confrontation between Ukraine and Russia.

Before the regional authorities' call to Moscow for protection and assistance, this conflict was seen as difficult to resolve.

If Transnistria gains independence, Moldova will not accept it.

If the region is annexed to Moldova, it, along with Russia, will not accept this option.

Will repeating the “Crimea” scenario be the remaining option for Moscow, which has described the residents of Transnistria as its citizens?

Source: Al Jazeera