Tuesday Map: Don’t cry for me, Transnistria

While Kosovo, Chechnya, and Georgia’s breakaway provinces get all the press, you might be wondering if there are any other post-Soviet regional conflicts that deserve your attention.

You’re in luck. This week, the government of Moldova angered residents of its breakaway region, Transnistria, by outlawing dual citizenship (Many Transnistrians are also citizens of Russia or Ukraine) and proposing that the Transnistria army disband and join the Moldovan national army.

Also known as Pridnestrovie or Transdniester, Transnistria is a Russian-speaking region that declared its independence from Moldova in 1990 due to fears of Moldovan nationalism. A war of independence ended in stalemate, with a ceasefire declared in 1992.

Since then, Transnistria has existed in a state of international limbo, ruled continuously by former Communist apparatchik and Sean Connery look-alike Igor Smirnov. (You’ve got to love a place where the government’s own Web site runs headlines like “(Some) international observers call elections free, democratic.”) It has its own parliament, currency, and military, but is not recognized as a state by any other country, though Russia maintains a troop presence there and Hugo Chávez, of all people, recently pledged his support. Its economy has been mostly privatized but residents retain a odd fondness for Lenin.

Transnistria now finds itself caught between hostility from Moldova and neglect from Russia, as Douglas Muir of Fistful of Euros explains:

The country’s rulers would love to merge with Russia, and much of the country’s population would probably follow them. But Russia lacks enthusiasm for picking up another exclave. Especially one that is (1) hundreds of kilometers south of Russia’s current borders, (2) totally lacking in resources or strategic utility, (3) majority non-Russian, and (4) dirt-poor. Independence doesn’t make a lot of sense; Transnistria is small, ethnically divided, economically dependent on Russia, and geographically ridiculous.

It has also earned a reputation as a crime-ridden, mafia-dominated transshipment point for the international weapons trade, a role you can learn a lot more about from Illicit, by FP‘s editor in chief Moises Naim. And to keep up-to-date with Transnistria developments, check out The Tiraspol Times, which reads like a bizarro-world Fox News with headlines like:

Igor Smirnov: Communist strongman or courageous independence hero? We report, you decide…”