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After the end of World War Two various parts of Eastern Europe were divided up and taken over by the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), which created the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic from two separate elements: the mostly Russian-speaking Dniester region that had been part of Ukraine, and the region of Bessarrabia across the Dniester River that had formerly, from 1918 to 1940, been part of Romania.
By the end of the 1980s and early 1990s the old USSR was on the decline, consolidating it’s borders back to the old Russia as it is today, but the people of the Dniester became concerned about Moldova’s increasing nationalism and feared the country would reunite with Romania (many Moldovans today still believe that reunification with Romania is the way ahead) – killing off any ties with Russia and the Russian language the majority of the Dniester people were at home with… a fear that was compounded when Moldova passed a law making Moldovan (Romanian) the official language of the country.
Transdniester proclaimed its secession in September 1990, and in 1991 the now breakaway region of Transdniester organised paramilitary forces and took over many of the Moldovan public institution. The hostility between the two sides, literally from either side of the Dniester River, grew into a battle on the right bank of the river in June 1992 (see,The War ). A ceasfire, overlooked by Russia, was signed in July 1992 and a 10km demilitarised security zone was set up and enforced by the Russian 14th Army forces already stationed in Transdniester.
The Russians are still there now, much to the angst of the Moldovan government, and Transdniester still has close ties with Russia (see,Status ) and vice versa. Moldova and many Western countries see the presence of Russian troops, and an infamous stockpile of weapons, which is thought to be mostly obsolete but useable nonetheless, as an obstacle to peace talks. There was a brief ray of hope for anti-Russian elements in 2001 when the forces began to pull out, but this move was halted when Transdniester blocked the dispatch of weapons. All agreements that followed have not been realised.
Many discussions and meetings have been overseen by the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe), Russia and Ukraine that have yet to reach any favourable political solutions.
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Russia