Ukraine and Transnistria: A Troubled Borderland

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Date
2014-09-29
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Abstract
Ukrainian-Transnistrian relations have been quite good since Transnistria broke away from Moldova, declaring its (unrecognised) independence in the 1990s. Volunteers from the Ukrainian nationalist from the Ukrainian National Assembly-People’s Self-Defense movement (UNA-UNSO) even helped Transnistrians in their 􀃕ght against Moldovans in the 1992 war, however, the Ukrainian authorities have incessantly declared their support for Moldova’s territorial integrity. Generally, Kyiv appreciated Tiraspol’s policy towards Ukrainians, an ethnic group which makes up approximately one-third of the quasi-state’s population, and treated the predominantly Slavic Transnistria as a counterbalance to Romanian Moldova. Moreover, Ukraine’s adjacent regions and part of its political and business elite enjoyed economic cooperation with Transnistria based on trade, transit and investment as well as illegal activities such as smuggling. For Transnistria, Ukraine was a window to the outside world.
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Keywords
Ukraine, Transnistria, de facto state, Russia, Donbas, separatism
Citation
New Eastern Europe, 2015
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Creative Commons License