MOLDOVA: Dnestr voters chooses independence and unification with Russia

Supporters of independence expect an easy victory in a referendum in Moldova's separatist Dnestr region today after polls closed this evening. Officials said that 77% of the electorate had cast their ballots, which was necessary to make the vote valid. The final results are expected early Monday morning. Western countries, however, said they will not recognise the referendum. Only Russia, which keeps 1,200 troops in Dnestr, has called for the outcome to be heeded. The results of the Dnestr vote will have repercussions throughout the former Soviet Union, as several other self-proclaimed republics also want their independence and to join with Russia. The voting results is expected to lead to the unification of Dnestr with the Russian Federation, even though the two do not have a common border. Dnestr is wedged in between Moldova and Ukraine, and both countries have strained relations with Moscow. Dnestr's 390,000 voters, memories of a 1992 war with Moldova still fresh in their minds, were asked two questions: whether they back independence and attachment to Russia, or whether they reject independence and want to remain with Moldova. The dispute in Dnestr is born of ethnic differences. Dnestr's Slav leaders declared independence in 1990 in response to proposal that the Romanian-speaking majority in Moldova, which was Romania's province of Bessarabia before being annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939, should rejoin with Romania. Dnestr first appeared as a territorial unit in 1924 when the fledgling Soviet Union proclamed the Moldovan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which included today's Dnestr region, as well as parts of Ukraine, but none of Bessarabia. A brief war between Slavs and Moldovans in 1992 was halted by Russian troops who remain despite promises to leave, continue to guard the bridge over the Dnestr River and 30 other crossing points. Moldova, which is ignoring the vote, says the Russian army presence impedes international mediation. Media said President Vladimir Voronin told officials at a meeting on Saturday to remain calm. No Western observers were overseeing the vote, though a Russian delegation was present. Also, a large delegation of observers from Kosovo was also present. Dnestr, like other breakaway areas in ex-Soviet states, has cited precedents in former Yugoslavia, where recently voters in Montenegro opted for independence, and talks in Kosovo are likely to lead soon to a similar result. A separatist region in Georgia, South Ossetia, plans a similar referendum in November. Both Moldova and Georgia accuse the Kremlin of abetting the separatists.

ITN Source | September 18, 2006

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