Geopolitics: Pridnestrovie's unique role in Europe

Pridnestrovie lies in the zone of contact between diverse geopolitical worlds: Roman, Slavic, Turkish. Whoever controls the Balkans and the Black Sea region is in control of important oil, gas and transport arteries between Russia, the Near East and Europe. This fact is not lost on the major powers who prolong the "conflict" of Pridnestrovie to play a geopolitical game with the independence of the people of Pridnestrovie.

In the process, significant money transfers have found its way to Moldova, with the country's refusal to recognize Pridnestrovie being partly fueled by U.S. cash.
Thirsty for multi-million dollar handouts, politicians in Moldova have always done what the United States says or else "I have no doubt Washington would also have used its influence in international financial institutions to punish Moldova severely as an object lesson", in the words of Wayne Merry, interviewed by Radio Liberty, who as a U.S. State Department and Pentagon official has been extensively involved in Moldova.

The money rarely finds its way to better lives for the Moldovan people, but very often to the Swiss bank accounts of Moldovan government officials. In one clear case of paying to achieve a foreign policy objective, the United States transferred $40 million in cash and $100 million in foreign aid down the Moldovan drain (as per the declaration of jailed Moldovan government minister Valeriu Pasat to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Civil Action No.: 98-161 RMU). Unfortunately, in the process, the rights of Moldova's next door neighbor, Pridnestrovie, are being severely curtailed: Despite a dubious territorial claim, Moldova uses its membership of international fora to lobby against the valid and deserved state recognition of Pridnestrovie.

Moldova's "sponsor" on the international arena is Romania, a country with the same language, same flag colors and same ethnic composition as Moldova — in fact, for most of Romania's history, Moldova was part of Romania and there are highly active sectors in both nations who currently campaign for the re-unification of the two countries. Romania, said to be the home of some of the most notorious CIA-prisons, is a member of NATO and one of the strongest unconditional supporters of the US-led war in Iraq.

The United States has military bases on Romanian territory, giving the US an operative reach with strategic and military influence over the Balkans, Moldova, Pridnestrovie, and parts of southern Ukraine. This, however, is not the ideal location in the region.

According to the director of the Russian-Dniester Information-Analytical Center, Alexey Martynov, the inexplicable US support of Moldova's dubious territorial claims against Pridnestrovie may be linked to a U.S. wish for a future military base on Pridnestrovian soil:
" - Geo-strategically it is more convenient to have a military base in Tiraspol than in Romania. First, it would allow the United States control of a bigger territory. Second, this area still has Soviet-era infrastructure, like a huge airbase in Tiraspol from where a fighter plane can reach the Balkans in just 12 minutes. In contrast with the Romanian bases, a base in Pridnestrovie would allow for full dominant control of the entire Black Sea region as well as Belarus, Ukraine and an important part of Russia."

The readymade infrastructure of Pridnestrovie has significant advantages over the poor offerings of Moldova or Romania. In Moldova, there is no runway large enough to support the most modern US fighter jets. Tiraspol, however, has one: The only one in the region, courtesy of the now-disbanded Soviet 14th Army.

Small but strategically placed, Pridnestrovie is seeking to maintain its independence in the face of Moldovan moves to control the country. Moldovan politicians, on the other hand, know that if they can gain control of Pridnestrovie their Swiss bank deposits will take on a whole new order of magnitude... But after independence in 1990, the people of Pridnestrovie have no wish to be pawns in a geopolitical game. The country merely wants to be recognized for what it is: A small but successful independent nation with a people who have worked hard at building their own self-sustainable European country.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pridnestrovie has already extended a welcoming hand to the international community, seeking recognition and partnerships with the rest of Europe. It is now up to Europe to recognize this gesture for what it is: A desire for cooperation and closer, stronger ties between neighbors.

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