Transnistria conflict

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Transnistria and the Republic of Moldova

The Transnistria conflict ( Russian Приднестровский конфликт ; Romanian Conflictul din Transnistria ) describes a conflict that has lasted since 1990 and was briefly armed between the former Soviet Republic of Moldova and the now de facto independent Transnistria , which split from the republic of the Soviet Union in the course of the collapse of the Soviet Union .

After a brief war from March to August 1992, Transnistria achieved de facto independence, while Moldova lost its sovereignty over the area. The fighting claimed over 500 lives and only ended with the mediation of General Alexander Lebed , who commanded the 14th Russian Army stationed there .

Transnistria has been virtually independent since 1992, but has not yet been recognized by any other state and is still claimed by Moldova. Since then, the uncertain political status of Transnistria has significantly hampered the development of both societies. Numerous diplomatic solutions, including those from other countries, have so far not led to a settlement of the conflict. In the meantime, both parties have at least partially come to terms with the status quo . So it is a “ frozen conflict ”.

The origin of the Transnistria conflict is causally connected with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It has its deeper causes in the changeable history of the region , an ethnically and lingually heterogeneous population, unresolved property issues during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and demographic conditions in Transnistria that differ from the rest of Moldova.

War museum in Bendery, Transnistria

causes

Until 1792 the southern part of today's Transnistria belonged to the Ottoman Empire , which had to cede this area to Russia in the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca . In this sparsely populated area mainly Tatars lived , but also Moldovans and Ukrainians . The northern part belonged to the Kingdom of Poland until 1793 and was mainly populated by Moldovans, Ukrainians, Jews and small groups of Poles . Since 1792 a more extensive settlement by Russians began, there were numerous Russian cities founded in Transnistria, such as Tiraspol .

After the end of the sixth Russian Turkish War in 1812, the Ottoman Empire had to cede what is now known as Bessarabia (roughly today's Moldova without Transnistria, but with Budschak and parts of the Chernivtsi - Chotyn Oblast ) to the Russian Empire . This marked the beginning of the strong influx of Russians and Ukrainians into an area that until then was mostly inhabited by Romanians .

After the end of the First World War in 1918, Bessarabia, largely today's Moldova, was annexed to Romania . Transnistria on the eastern side of the Dniester , however, developed differently. Today's Transnistria belonged to the newly founded Moldavian ASSR , which in turn was an autonomous republic within the Ukrainian Soviet Republic of the Soviet Union . The naming " Moldavian ASSR " was also chosen to underpin Soviet claims to the former Russian governorate of Bessarabia . In the area of ​​today's Transnistria, the proportion of the Russian-speaking population groups continued to increase, and the industry in this region was greatly expanded with the help of the centrally controlled planned economy .

During the Second World War , Bessarabia was initially annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. Romania, allied with Hitler's Germany , occupied Bessarabia again in 1941 after the attack on the Soviet Union , but had to cede it to the Soviet Union after the Second World War.

Bessarabia, west of the Dniester, was finally united with Transnistria by the Soviet government in the form of the Soviet Republic of Moldova . Under the rule of the Soviets there were further Russification measures , which led to the fact that the proportion of Moldovans fell to almost 40% in 1989. The predominance of the Russian idiom in state careers was an obstacle for the Moldovan-speaking population (“territorialized political elite conflict”). Russians (25.4% in 1989) and Ukrainians (around 29% in 1989) formed large minorities at the time. Many Moldovans and most of the smaller minorities such as Bulgarians , Gagauz and Tatars also spoke Russian. In Transnistria, a majority spoke Russian, while in other regions of the country Moldavian ( Romanian ) predominated. Although less than 30 percent of non-Moldovans lived in Transnistria, the Transnistrian cities formed strongholds of the Russian and Ukrainian population concentrations.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union , Moldova declared itself an independent republic in June 1990 and proclaimed state sovereignty on August 27, 1991 .

The distribution conflict over hierarchy and property that has become more and more evident since perestroika took place at the elite level between the emerging Moldovan-speaking national communist cadres and the old Soviet-influenced Russophone nomenclature . The competing political elites mobilized the population on the basis of their linguistic fault lines and thus made use of their heterogeneity. While in most parts of Moldova the population favored Moldovan independence, in Transnistria and Gagauzia the pro-Soviet forces were in the majority. Tensions grew steadily, especially when the nationalist Moldovan leadership in Chișinău abolished Russian as the second official language in 1989. This led to indignation among the Russian-speaking minorities in the country.

In 1990, the leadership in Transnistria led by Igor Smirnow and Grigori Marakuza proclaimed the east of the Dniester part of the country to be its own Transnistrian Soviet Republic within the Soviet Union, which, however, was not accepted by Moldova. In August 1991, the former Moldovan Soviet Republic declared itself independent as the Republic of Moldova and left the Soviet Union. The Romanian language became the only official language of the new state; Russian no longer received an official status, although it was the mother tongue of a large part of the population. This was followed by a nationalization of the administrative apparatus and economic structures in the country and anti-minority demonstrations. The nationalist Moldovan Popular Front and the then Prime Minister Mircea Druk even sought to unite Moldova with Romania. Conflicts arose in Moldova with the minorities, who in 1989 made up around 35% of the population. The minorities were mostly concentrated in a few regions, in particular Transnistria , Gagauzia , the capital Kishinev and the area around Bălți .

In Transnistria, large sections of the population saw their rights as threatened by the nationalist politics in Moldova. As a result, Transnistria declared itself finally independent and established its own state structures. Not least because of the industry located in Transnistria and the economic power of this region with its important steel, textile and shoe industries, furniture and spirits production and numerous power stations, the central government was not prepared to accept the split.

conflict

Vehicles of the Transnistrian infantry on the bridge between Tiraspol and Bender
Moldovan monument "Eternitate" in Chisinau

The August coup in Moscow in 1991, initiated by structural conservative forces, marked the decisive step in escalating the Transnistrian conflict. The nationalist Moldovan leadership around Mircea Snegur declared itself independent immediately after the failed coup on August 27, 1991. The former Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic then renamed itself the Republic of Moldova , refused orders from Moscow and demanded the withdrawal of all Soviet troops from Moldovan territory. This met with resistance, especially in Transnistria, where orders from Chișinău were openly denied in some cases.

As early as September 1990, under the chairmanship of Igor Smirnov and Grigori Marakuza , a provisional Supreme Soviet was founded in Transnistria to support the aims of the Union-preserving forces in Moscow. With the failure of the August coup, the dissolution of the Soviet Union was in fact sealed. Transnistria also declared independence - from both the Soviet Union and Moldova. The conflict of interest between Moscow and Chișinău, which seemed to have come to an end with Moldova's declaration of independence, has now been renewed by the conflict of interest with Tiraspol .

The territorialization of the conflict was soon followed by military escalation through the use of military equipment stationed on the territory to which those in power had access. The conflict with the government in Chișinău rocked so high that the situation finally escalated and degenerated into open civil war. After the formation of a 10,000-strong Moldovan armed force , which was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior and modeled on the Italian Carabinieri , clashes broke out in Dubăsari and later violent clashes in Bender . The fighting between Transnistrian and Moldovan units lasted from March 1, 1992 to July 25, 1992 and could finally be ended with the mediation of Russia and its 14th Army stationed there under General Alexander Lebed . Volunteers from other countries fought on both sides, mostly Romanians on the Moldovan side, while Transnistria was supported by volunteers from Russia and Ukraine. In the course of the conflict, Moldova finally lost control of Transnistria.

The Moldovan side is accused of having actively participated in the war with its 14th Army. In this conflict, the T-64s of the 59th Motorized Guards Rifle Division of the 14th Army under the command of General Lebed were used. During the war, ten T-64BW were destroyed or put out of action by anti-tank weapons MT-12 , 9K113 bankruptcy and RPGs . The reason for the failure of the armed forces of the Republic of Moldova to capture the Transnistrian part of the country is mostly seen as the fact that at that time they were inferior to the Transnistrian military potential in terms of personnel and equipment in every respect. More than half of the equipment, including all tanks and two smaller warships, had been withdrawn to Russia after the Republic declared independence. The government in Chișinău was left with only a small part of the structures of the former Soviet army . She now had mostly inexperienced recruits, a few Afghanistan veterans , who often acted as trainers on site, some surprisingly efficient special police units and many volunteers, especially police officers.

Change at the top of the republic

Five presidential elections have taken place since 1991. From 1991 to 2011 Igor Smirnov held the office of President. In 1996 he won with 72% against Vladimir Malachow with 20%. In 2001 he received 81.9%, while his competitors Tom Senowitsch with 6.7% and Alexander Radchenko with 4.6% had almost no chance. In 2006 Smirnov won with 82.4%, Nadezhda Bondarenko from the Communist Party received 8.1% of the vote, Andrei Safonov, owner and editor of the opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta, received 3.9%. None of these elections were recognized by the international community as Transnistria is not a subject of international law.

In the presidential elections in September 2011, Igor Smirnov ran again, applying for his fourth term. In the run-up to this election, however, the Russian government had withdrawn its support as he was now seen as an obstacle to a negotiated solution to the conflict. Instead, they supported the speaker of the Transnistrian parliament, Anatoly Kaminski .

According to surveys, Smirnov was initially still at the top, but in the first ballot he only came third with around 25% of the vote, behind opposition candidates Yevgeny Shevchuk and Anatoly Kaminsky. In the runoff election, Shevchuk clearly won against Kaminski, who was supported by Russia, with 73.9% of the vote.

Brief chronology of the conflict

  • April 1988 : Foundation of the Alexe Mateevici Club by young Moldovan intellectuals in Chișinău .
  • June 1988 : Founding of the Moldovan Democratic Movement in Support of Perestroika .
  • May 1989 : Founding of the Moldovan Popular Front as an association of numerous national movements in the Moldovan Soviet Republic (MSSR). They call for a democratization of the country and a reform of the language policy, especially the return to the Latin script .
  • June 1989 : Mircea Snegur is elected chairman of the Moldovan Supreme Soviet and accepts the demands of the Popular Front.
  • August 1989 : In Chișinău there are large demonstrations for Moldovan as the only official state language of the republic and for the abolition of Russian as another official language. At the same time, large counter-movements are forming, especially in Transnistria and Gagauzia .
  • from November 1989 : First clashes between the Moldovan police and Transnistrian units along the Dniester .
  • January 1990 : Elections to the Supreme Soviet in the MSSR with strong gains in candidates for the Popular Front. In Transnistria the OSTK (United Council of Workers' Collective) is organizing a referendum for an autonomy regulation for Transnistria. 96% are in favor.
  • June 1990 : Declaration of sovereignty of the former MSSR, now renamed the Republic of Moldova .
  • September 1990 : Declaration of independence by the PMSSR (Pridnestrovskaja Moldavskaja Sozialistscheskaja Sowetskaja Respublika) with the capital Tiraspol as an independent union object.
  • August 1991 : The August coup in Moscow fails. While he was supported by Tiraspol, Chișinău condemned him and shortly thereafter declared his independence from the Soviet Union .
  • September 1991 : Development of own state structures in Transnistria.
  • October 1991 : An armistice between the Republic of Moldova and Transnistria is concluded with the mediation of the Russian Supreme Soviet.
  • December 1991 : Transnistrian military units besieged strategic buildings in Bender and Dubăsari .
  • January 1992 : The Pridnestrovskaja Moldavskaja Respublika (PMR) founds its own armed forces and takes over parts of the 14th Army stationed in Transnistria .
  • March 1992 : The conflict in Transnistria escalates.
  • April 1992 : Moldovan units attack Bender, which is controlled by the PMR. The 14th Army receives the official status of an Army of the Russian Federation . General Alexander Lebed takes command from Yuri Netkachev.
  • April 1992 : Despite an armistice, isolated fighting takes place.
  • May 1992 : Moldovan units attack Dubăsari. Garrisons of the 14th Army stationed there come under artillery fire.
  • June 1992 : The PMR founds its own army and demands recognition as an independent republic.
  • June 1992 : During an attempt by the Moldovan military to retake Bender, the 14th Army under General Alexander Lebed intervened and pushed the Moldovan units back.
  • July 1992 : Agreement between the President of the Republic of Moldova Mircea Ion Snegur and the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin on an armistice and the special status of Transnistria; Establishment of the JCC (Joint Control Commission).

Effects

War memorial in Bender
War cemetery in Bender

A joint peacekeeping force consisting of 3800 Russian , 1200 Moldovan and 1200 Transnistrian soldiers was established under Russian mediation . These units formed a "peace corridor" between the warring parties and ended the hostilities on July 16, 1992 with a ceasefire agreement. The national integrity of the Republic of Moldova was confirmed in the ceasefire agreement ; however, the PMR was granted the right to hold a referendum if the Republic of Moldova were to unite with Romania .

In the 1990s, Moldovan diplomacy achieved successes at the OSCE summits in Istanbul and Lisbon: The international community recognized the severity of the conflict and prompted the Russian Federation to withdraw all Russian armed forces from the territory of the Republic of Moldova under international law to agree to 2002. The withdrawal of the troops was linked in all documents with a final resolution of the status of Transnistria . However, since no agreement could be reached on this between the government of the Republic of Moldova and the government of Transnistria, the operational group of the armed forces of the Russian Federation remains stationed to this day.

In July 2002 in Kiev, at the initiative of the OSCE, an agreement was concluded between the conflicting parties that considered the federalization of the Republic of Moldova . However, since the document did not oblige either side to take any binding steps and, overall, raised more questions than answered, this meeting was ultimately just another step in the process of freezing the conflict. Nevertheless, a federalization of the Republic of Moldova appears to be the only feasible path if the Transnistrian conflict is to be resolved within the currently recognized borders of the Republic of Moldova. The status quo , however, is such that the leadership around Igor Smirnov has succeeded in building its own state and military structures, which make such a solution seem unlikely. The Moldovan government has given up its goal of reunification with Romania , but still has no control over Transnistria.

The European Union takes the position that to stabilize the Republic of Moldova, it is essential to secure national borders. The government in Chișinău has also recognized that all steps towards European development are linked to the stabilization of its eastern border. For this reason, the EUBAM , a border control mission of the European Union on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border , has existed since November 30, 2005 to prevent the smuggling of arms, people and drugs from and to Transnistria.

On November 18, 2008, NATO published a resolution calling on the Russian Federation to comply with the " commitments made at the Istanbul OSCE summit in 1999 and to withdraw troops illegally stationed in the region."

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) called on 22 June 2018 of a resolution for the first time a withdrawal of Russian armed forces ( 14th Guards Army ) from Transnistria. 64 states voted in favor of the proposal; 15 states voted against it and 83 abstentions. Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky referred to the OSCE's existing mediation efforts in the Transnistrian conflict and said that the resolution was damaging to the efforts of the OSCE.

Casualty numbers

According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program , a total of 585 people were killed in combat operations during the armed phase of the conflict from 1991 to 1992, most of them in the fighting between Bender and Tiraspol.

See also

literature

  • Kilian Graf: The Transnistria Conflict. Product of late Soviet distribution struggles and the collapse conflict of the imploded Soviet Union. Disserta-Verlag, Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-942109-30-7 (also: Berlin, Free University, dissertation, 2010).
  • Anatol Gudim: Transnistria. Conflicts and Pragmatism on the Economy. Center for Strategic Studies and Reforms (CISR), Budapest 2006, online (PDF; 130 KB) .
  • Charles King: The Moldovans. Romania, Russia and the Politics of Culture (= Studies of Nationalities. Vol. 472). Hoover Institute Press, Stanford CA 2000, ISBN 0-8179-9791-1 .
  • Charles King: The Benefits of Ethnic War. Understanding Eurasia's Unrecognized States. In: World Politics. Vol. 53, Issue 4, July 2001, ISSN  0043-8871 , pp. 524-552.
  • John O'Loughlin, Vladimir Kolossov, Andrei Tchepalyga: National Construction, Territorial Separatism, and Post-Soviet Geopolitics in the Transdniester Moldovan Republic. In: Post-Soviet Geography and Economics. Vol. 39, Issue 6, 1998, pp. 332-358, doi : 10.1080 / 10889388.1998.10641081 (currently not available) .
  • Dov Lynch: Separatist states and post-Soviet conflicts. In: International Affairs Vol. 78, Issue 4, 2002, ISSN  0020-5850 , pp. 831-848.
  • Oazu Nantoi: Playing with the statehood and the future of the Republic of Moldova as an aprentice wizzard. In: Iulian Chifu , Oazu Nantoi, Oleksandr Sushko: "The Breakthrough crisis" of a quick solution Transnistria. A trilateral cognitive institutional approach of the crisis decision-making. Editura Curtea Veche, Bucharest 2008, ISBN 978-073-1983-06-6 , pp. 93-134, online (PDF; 366 KB) .
  • Stefan Troebst : The Transnistrian conflict and its handling by the OSCE. In: Austrian Study Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Stadtschlaining (Ed.): African Perspectives. Peace Report 1998 - Theory and Practice of Civil Conflict Management in Eastern Europe. Results of the International State of Peace Conference 1997 (= Dialog. Vol. 34 = 1998, Issue 1/2). Rüegger, Zurich 1998, ISBN 3-7253-0604-4 , pp. 347-379.
  • Lucan A. Way: Weak states and Pluralism: The case of Moldova. In: East European Politics & Societies. Vol. 17, Issue 3, 2003, ISSN  0888-3254 , pp. 454-482, doi : 10.1177 / 0888325403255309 .
  • Dareg Zabarah Nation- and Statehood in Moldova: Ideological and political dynamics since the 1980s , Harrasowitz Verlag (Balkanologische Publications No: 53), 2011, ISBN 3-447-06472-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Vladimir Chiveri: The geopolitical trap in the Transnistrian conflict , 2012, page 33, corresponds to King, The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the Politics of Culture, page 187
  2. ↑ Klemens Büscher: The “statehood” of Transnistria - an accident in history? ( Memento of October 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 245 kB) University of Mannheim, February 1998, p. 18. is no longer available; quoted on page 10 at: http://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/4372/ssoar-1998-hanne-der_transnistrien-konflikt.pdf
  3. ↑ Hanne, Gottfried; Federal Institute for Eastern and International Studies (Ed.) The Transnistrian Conflict: Causes, Development Conditions and Prospects for Regulation Cologne, 1998
  4. ↑ Tom Cooper, Alexandru Stratulat: War in Moldova, 1992. ACIG, February 10, 2008, archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; accessed on October 23, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).
  5. ^ Regnum , September 14, 2006. "Transdnestr president: Recognition of Transdnestr is the matter of my life" ( Memento of September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Dniester President and his cognac fall from grace Russia News , October 14, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
  7. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from October 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ Dniester-Republic of Transnistria is about to change Russia-Aktuell, December 15, 2011. Retrieved on December 26, 2011.
  9. ^ Kremlin candidate loses presidential election . Spiegel Online , December 26, 2011. Accessed the same day.
  10. ↑ moldova.org: "Moldovan president visits peacekeeping forces' battalion deployed near Cosnita" ( Memento of the original from February 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.moldova.md
  11. ↑ Bruno Coppieters and Michael Emmerson: Conflict resolution for Moldova and Transdniestria through federalization? Center for European Policy Studies 2002 (English)
  12. ↑ MOLDOVA: REGIONAL TENSIONS OVER TRANSDNIESTRIA June 17, 2004 ( Memento of September 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 568 kB). ICG Europe Report N ° 157
  13. ^ Official website of EUBAM
  14. ^ NATO resolution of November 18. Point 11. b. ( Memento from March 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ General Assembly Adopts Text urging Troop Withdraw from Republic of Moldova, Strengthening Cooperation in Central Asia. In: Deutsche Welle . June 23, 2018, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  16. ^ Moldova: Dniestr , Uppsala Conflict Data Program, accessed March 7, 2018