Igor Smirnov
Posted on 09/17/2006 3:39:02 PM PDT by joan
AP
Voters in Moldova's breakaway Trans-Dniester cast ballots Sunday in a referendum that will determine whether this separatist region should continue pursuing its goal of joining Russia. The region's 390,000 registered voters were expected to overwhelmingly back the initiative, which is supported by all of its political parties.
Moldova, which fought a war with the region's Russian-speaking separatists in 1992 that killed some 1,500 people, has said it will not recognize the results. The European Union and the United States are also spurning the plebiscite, which critics warn could set a precedent for pro-Russian separatists in other ex-Soviet republics.
Trans-Dniester leader Igor Smirnov defended the decision to hold the vote despite Western criticism and the Kremlin's cool reaction. Moscow has defended the region's right to hold the plebiscite but has given no indication that it wants to absorb this economically depressed area that does not border Russia.
"Why aren't you surprised that many other ex-Soviet republics define their own future and don't ask their people _ such as Ukraine and Moldova, which declare 'We are going to NATO and the European Union' without even asking their voters," Smirnov said after casting his ballot into a glass box.
Voters began trickling in early Sunday to the 262 polling stations as loudspeakers throughout the center of the main city, Tiraspol, blared Soviet-era music and reminders to vote. They stood patiently behind registration tables set up by street _ Lenin Street, Marx Street _ and many clutched now-useless Soviet passports.
"Union with Russia would bring stability and give us something to look forward to tomorrow," said Natasha Solovyova, 20, as an orchestra warmed up to entertain voters at polling station No. 230.
The West has urged Trans-Dniester _ about twice the size of Luxembourg _ to return to negotiations aimed at giving the region broad autonomy within Moldova, warning that the country's territorial integrity must be respected.
"On the ground, nothing will change after this referendum," said Viorel Cibotaru, a political analyst with Moldova's Institute for Public Policy. "It's just an experiment on Trans-Dniester and the population. The danger is that it could be used as a tool for a bigger game by Russia in other areas."
A similar plebiscite is scheduled for November in South Ossetia, a breakaway region in Georgia _ a small, pro-Western ex-Soviet republic that borders Russia and has a tense relationship with Moscow.
In Trans-Dniester, voters were being asked whether they want to continue the region's independent course with the goal of eventual union with Russia, or join Moldova, which many here perceive as a foreign oppressor.
Moldova's state language is Romanian, whereas Trans-Dniester is Russian-speaking and nearly 60 percent of its residents are ethnic Russians or Ukrainians.
Asked why the region wasn't seeking to unite with neighboring Ukraine, Smirnov said another referendum about close partnership with Ukraine could be held. "But Ukraine is not the legal successor to the Soviet Union _ the legal successor is great Russia," he said.
The plebiscite's outcome is determined by a simple majority of votes, but turnout must exceed 50 percent for it to be declared valid. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has said the vote will be neither free nor fair, and should not be recognized.
"The questions are loaded and suggestive, and from a one-sided perspective," said Claus Neukirch, spokesman for Moldova's OSCE office.
The separatists here were inspired by Montenegro's May referendum, in which residents voted for independence from Serbia. Just over a month later, Montenegro was welcomed into the United Nations. But unlike the Trans-Dniester plebiscite, the Montenegro referendum was authorized by the central government.
"The situation in Trans-Dniester shares no similarities ... with Montenegro," Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said Saturday.
Trans-Dniester, which bills itself as Europe's newest country, has its own flag (red and green), currency (the ruble), an army and a president. A giant statue of Lenin stands in Tiraspol's main square, and Russian troops, next to a tank under camouflage netting, guard a roadblock near the outskirts of town.
"The situation in Trans-Dniester shares no similarities ... with Montenegro," Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said Saturday.
ping
Moldovia? I remember Blake Carrington had a problem with those people.
Not sure how much Russia can pull back from the brink but here is a good article (from 2000) on Operation Sunbeam ...
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=19824
..."The leaders of the West have yet to understand the significance of Sejna's statement about the fake dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. Americans and West Europeans are far from grasping the truth in Golitsyn's 1984 statement that the Kremlin was contemplating the demolition of the Berlin Wall. As Horst Jemlich suggested in his statement to the Times, Operation Sunbeam was initiated with the collapse of East Germany in mind. The KGB, however, was not giving up. It was creating an alternate channel to continue operations against the West under cover of a supposed Cold War defeat."...
Igor Smirnov
What do the initials PMR stand for? Parliament of the Moldovan Republic? Was Dec. 9, 2001, the date for electing the President of the Parliament?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic
I suppose they could do their own version of Psalm 137: "By the river Dnester we sat and wept, as we remembered Stalin..."
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