Political Status
Transnistria is considered by the vast majority of countries as a legal part of the Republic of Moldova. Only the partially recognised states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia recognize it as a sovereign entity after it declared independence from Moldova in 1990 with Tiraspol as its declared capital.
Between 1929 and 1940, Tiraspol was the capital of the Moldavian ASSR, an autonomous republic within Ukrainian SSR, which existed from 1924 to 1940.
Although exercising no direct control over the territory, the Moldovan government passed the "Law on Basic Provisions of the Special Legal Status of Localities from the Left Bank of the Dniester" on 22 July 2005, which established part of Transnistria (territory of Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic without Bender and without territories, which are under control of Moldova) as an autonomous territorial unit within the Republic of Moldova. The law was passed without any prior consultation with Transnistrian authorities, which called it a provocation and has since ignored it.
Between 300,000 and 400,000 Transnistrians (the majority of the population) acquired Moldovan passports by 2008. No UN member state recognizes passports issued by the Transnistrian government. Russia opened a consulate in Tiraspol (against the will of Moldova) and issued about 80,000 passports to Transnistrians by the end of 2006.
There are unsettled border issues between Transnistria and Moldova. Nine villages from the Dubăsari district, including Cocieri and Doroţcaia which geographically belong to Transnistria, have been under the control of the central government of Moldova after the involvement of local inhabitants on the side of Moldovan forces during the War of Transnistria. These villages along with Varniţa and Copanca, near Bendery and Tiraspol, are claimed by the PMR. One city and six villages on the west bank are controlled by the PMR, but are considered by Moldova as a separate municipality (Bender and two villages), or part of the Căuşeni district (four villages).
Tense situations have periodically surfaced due to these territorial disputes, such as in 2005, when Transnistrian forces entered Vasilievca, in 2006 around Varniţa, and in 2007 in Dubăsari-Cocieri area, when a confrontation between Moldovan and Transnistrian forces occurred, however without any casualties.
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Transnistria
Famous quotes containing the words political and/or status:
“My dear young friend ... civilization has absolutely no need of nobility or heroism. These things are symptoms of political inefficiency. In a properly organized society like ours, nobody has any opportunities for being noble or heroic. Conditions have got to be thoroughly unstable before the occasion can arise.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“Anthropologists have found that around the world whatever is considered “men’s work” is almost universally given higher status than “women’s work.” If in one culture it is men who build houses and women who make baskets, then that culture will see house-building as more important. In another culture, perhaps right next door, the reverse may be true, and basket- weaving will have higher social status than house-building.”
—Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen. Excerpted from, Gender Grace: Love, Work, and Parenting in a Changing World (1990)