Crime in Transnistria covers criminality-related incidents in the breakaway Republic of Transnistria, still nominally part of Moldova. The police organisations of Transnistria are tasked with fighting crime in the republic.
Crime in Transnistria covers criminality-related incidents in the breakaway Republic of Transnistria, still nominally part of Moldova. The police organisations of Transnistria are tasked with fighting crime in the republic.
Transnistria has a reputation of being a haven for smuggling. In 2002, the European Parliament's delegation to Moldova named Transnistria "a black hole in which illegal trade in arms, the trafficking in human beings and the laundering of criminal finance was carried on". [1] In 2005, The Wall Street Journal called Transnistria "a major haven for smuggling weapons and women". [2] However, in more recent statements, OSCE and European Union diplomats cited by Radio Free Europe called the smuggling claims "likely exaggerated". [3]
Since 30 November 2005 the European Union has had a Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) on Transnistria's borders with the United Nations Development Programme as implementing partner. In its official statements, the EU mission repeatedly confirmed an absence of any signs of weapons smuggling from Transnistria. [4]
Foreign experts working on behalf of the United Nations confirm that the current situation in the region "has prevented effective small arms control and undermined reform of the security sector". [5]
In 2004, an article in The Washington Times claimed that a cache of surface-to-air missile launchers, and other weapons, may have disappeared from a former Soviet stockpile, and that officials were at the time unable to account for their whereabouts. [6] The OSCE and European Union officials state that there is no evidence that Transnistria has ever, at any time in the past, trafficked arms or nuclear material. [1]
Foreign experts working on behalf of the United Nations say that the historically low levels of transparency and continued denial of full investigation to international monitors has reinforced negative perceptions of the Transnistrian regime, although recent good levels of cooperation on the part of Transnistrian authorities in some areas may reflect a shift in the attitude of PMR. [7] Also it says that the evidence for the illicit production and trafficking of weapons into and from Transnistria has in the past been exaggerated, that although the trafficking of light weapons is likely to have occurred before 2001. The last year when export data showed US$900,000 worth of 'weapons, munitions, their parts and accessories' exported from Transnistria.
In 2006 special monitoring mission of Russia and Ukraine headed by deputy secretary of the Security Council of Russia Yuri Zubakov and deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Serhiy Pirozhkov visited Transnistria and inspected enterprises, suspected in arms production. Based on the results of the inspection Zubakov and Pirozhkov stated that there have been no signs that any of the enterprises ever produced armaments or their components. [8]
In 2013 Ukrainian Foreign Minister and Acting Chairman of the OSCE Leonid Kozhara gave an interview to El País newspaper, commenting on situation in Transnistria and results of work of the EUBAM mission. According to Kozhara, there have been no cases of arms traffic found. [9]
About 20 years ago, there were several antisemitic incidents in Transnistria.
Certain countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, [15] Australia, [16] Spain, Bulgaria and Israel caution their citizens from traveling to both Moldova and Transnistria, especially after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In April 2010 the journalist Ernest Vardanean was arrested on accusations of espionage in favour of Moldova. [17] In May 2011 Igor Smirnov signed a decree stating that Vardanean could be released from jail. [18]
Transnistria or Pridnestrovie, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an internationally unrecognized state, recognized as part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester river and the Moldova–Ukraine border, as well as some land on the other side of the river's bank. Its capital and largest city is Tiraspol. Transnistria has been recognised only by two other unrecognised or partially recognised breakaway states: Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Transnistria is officially designated by the Republic of Moldova as the Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester or as Stînga Nistrului. In March 2022, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution that defines the territory as under military occupation by Russia.
The politics of Transnistria, a de facto independent state situated de jure within the Republic of Moldova in Eastern Europe, take place in a framework of a semi-presidential republic, whereby the President of Transnistria is head of state and the Prime Minister of Transnistria is head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. Formally, Transnistria has a multi-party system and a unicameral parliament, called the Supreme Council. The president is elected by popular vote. The latest parliamentary elections were held in December 2010; however, they were not monitored by international organizations such as Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which has expressed doubts about the level of democracy in the region, and were not recognized by other countries.
The Transnistria conflict is an ongoing frozen conflict between Moldova and the unrecognized state of Transnistria. Its most active phase was the Transnistria War. There have been several attempts to resolve the conflict, although none have been successful. The conflict may be considered as having started on 2 September 1990, when Transnistria made a formal sovereignty declaration from Moldova.
The 2006 Transnistrian customs crisis started on March 3, 2006, when Ukraine imposed new customs regulations on its border with Moldova on the Transnistrian region by declaring that it will only import goods from Transnistria with documents processed by Moldovan customs offices, as part of the implementation of a joint customs protocol between Ukraine and Moldova on December 30, 2005.
This is the history of Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester river and the Moldovan–Ukrainian border, as well as some land on the other side of the river's bank.
The 1997 Moscow memorandum, also known as the Primakov memorandum, was an agreement governing relations between Moldova and Transnistria aimed at solving the Transnistria conflict.
The Romanian-language schools in Transnistria are subject to limitations by the government of Transnistria, an unrecognized breakaway region of Moldova since 1992.
The state of affairs with human rights in Transnistria has been criticized by several governments and international organizations. The Republic of Moldova, and other states and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) claim that the government of Transnistria is authoritarian and has a record of arbitrary arrest and torture.
A double referendum was held in Transnistria on 17 September 2006. Voters were asked whether they approved of the possibility of renouncing independence and integration with Moldova, or alternatively independence and a possible future integration into the Russian Federation.
Currently, the Russian Federation holds an unknown number of soldiers in Transnistria, an unrecognized breakaway state internationally recognized as part of Moldova. This Russian military presence dates back to 1992, when the 14th Guards Army intervened in the Transnistria War in support of the Transnistrian separatist forces. Following the end of the war, which ended in a Russian-backed Transnistrian victory and in the de facto independence of the region, the Russian forces stayed in a purportedly peacekeeping mission and reorganized in 1995 into the Operational Group of Russian Forces (OGRF), currently guarding the Cobasna ammunition depot. Some other Russian soldiers also participate in the Joint Control Commission between Moldova, Russia and Transnistria since 1992.
The mass media of Transnistria, the breakaway territory within the borders of Moldova, features both state-owned or supported outlets and opposition media. Publications are in Russian, with a single newspaper in each of the other two official languages, Moldovan (Romanian), and Ukrainian.
Law enforcement in Transnistria is administered by the region's own police force. Transnistria functions as a presidential republic, with its own government, parliament, military, paramilitary and police (militsiya) force, constitution, currency, postal system and stamps, flag, national anthem, and coat of arms.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Transnistria:
Ernest Vardanean is a journalist and political scientist who lives in the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria. He was arrested on 7 April 2010 by the self-proclaimed forces in Tiraspol charged of high treason in favor of the Republic of Moldova.
In politics, a mafia state or pakhanate is a state system where the government is tied with organized crime to the degree when government officials, the police, and/or military became a part of the criminal enterprise. According to US diplomats, the expression "mafia state" was coined by Alexander Litvinenko.
Moldova–Transnistria relations are the political and economic relations between the Republic of Moldova and Transnistria, an unrecognized state between the Dniester River and Ukraine. During the dissolution of the Soviet Union, political tensions in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic led to Transnistria declaring independence from Moldova, culminating in the Transnistrian War of 1992. As part of the ceasefire agreement ending the war, a Joint Control Commission composed of Moldovan, Transnistrian, and Russian forces was established to supervise the demilitarized zone which was located in the Transnistrian region. The Joint Control Commission still supervises the zone, and negotiations to resolve the dispute are ongoing. The negotiations are supported by the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the United States, the European Union, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Transnistria–Ukraine relations is the bilateral relationship between the Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic and Ukraine. Ukraine does not officially recognize the independence of Transnistria. Nevertheless, it maintains special relations with Transnistria in the political, cultural and economic spheres.
The 5+2 format, also known as the 5+2 talks, the 5+2 negotiations and the 5+2 process, is a diplomatic negotiation platform aimed at finding a solution to the Transnistria conflict between Moldova and the unrecognized state of Transnistria. It is composed of the latter two, which are designated as "parties to the conflict", and Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), "mediators" of the negotiations. The European Union (EU) and the United States act as "observers". The inclusion of Romania into the 5+2 format has been proposed.
The so-called Berlin Plus package is the name given to a series of eight points that were agreed to be implemented in a protocol signed in 2016 during a meeting of the 5+2 format that took place on that year in Berlin, Germany, to improve the situation of the Transnistria conflict between Moldova and the unrecognized breakaway state of Transnistria. These eight points, which had been under negotiation since 2012, are the following:
The Yushchenko Plan, also referred to as the Ukrainian Plan, was a unsuccessful 2005 plan developed by then-President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko and Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Petro Poroshenko in an effort to bring an end to the Transnistria conflict by peaceful means with the support of Moldova and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).