Yes. We are "the little country that could". Since independence in 1990, we have been able to build a self-sustaining market economy entirely on our own; without U.S. grants or loans, and without any help from the World Bank, the IMF, or any other funding institutions. We also receive no funding or institutional assistance from Moldova either. Based on our successful balance of governmental institution building and the creation of a free market based economy, Pridnestrovie has even attracted some foreign investment. The governments pays its salaries and pensions on time. The education system and the health care system are both adequately funded. Unemployment is lower than in neighboring Moldova or Ukraine.
» Read more: Pridnestrovie's successful statehood [0]

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The world has more than fifty countries with populations of less than a million. One such country, Luxembourg, was a founding member of the United Nations - and Pridnestrovie is much larger than Luxembourg, both in population and in landmass. Today, these fifty countries use their role in international diplomacy and their sovereignty to engage the international system as equals. 17 have populations of less then 100,000. The two smallest, Nauru and Tuvalu, have around 10,000 people each.
» See comparison of Pridnestrovie with other countries: "Does size matter?" [0]

Pridnestrovie treats Moldova as an equal. We respect that country and recognize its sovereignty. We trade with Moldova and want to increase our trade and bilateral relations. They are the ones who want to annex our nation and make it part of Moldova, despite the fact that historically the two countries are separate. [1] At one point (in 1992) they tried to invade us. Even today, they still maintain a claim on us, much like China still has its eye on small but wealthy Taiwan.
» FAQ, Moldova/Pridnestrovie relations [1]

Pridnestrovie is already firmly in Europe. We have ratified and acceded to the world's most important human rights protocols [1] and we have opened up the economy, privatized important state industries, created a stock market and a fully independent market economy. Countries such as the US and Germany are among our largest trading partners. Our history is Western and we are Western. We are not seeking EU membership or NATO membership, but we are certainly looking towards even closer partnerships in areas such as trade and human rights, and we would like to develop far-reaching good neighbor programs with other European nations.
» International relations [1]

If freedom is worth anything, it is worth dying for. That, at least, was the attitude of the nearly 1,000 Pridnestrovians who lost their lives defending the country when Moldova invaded in 1992, so independence is clearly important to us. But we are already independent, consolidated as a nation state and can not turn back the clock. Pridnestrovie maintains its own currency, its own constitution, and control of its borders (816 km). It is a well-functioning nation state with a central bank, an army, a police force, judiciary, tax collection agency, health and education systems, and a people who will not trade the country's independence for any other arrangement if the matter is ever put to a vote.
» Background info on Independence [1]

Due to a smear campaign by Moldova, Pridnestrovie didn't get recognized at the same time that other post-Soviet republics did. But in international law, statehood isn't contingent on recognition. The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States [1] explicitly states that "The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states."
Nonrecognition is not a bar to the conduct of commercial or even diplomatic discourse. Pridnestrovie's Ministry of Foreign Affairs does seek increased integration and cooperation at an international level, and formal recognition will facilitate that. But ultimately, whether or not country X or Z decides to recognize it, it doesn't alter the fact that - recognition or not - Pridnestrovie still exists as a separate and proudly independent nation. And as Taiwan has shown, wide nonrecognition is simply a hindrance rather than an obstacle to effective diplomatic relations.
» International Recognition: Facts and consequences [1]

Of course it is. Just ask Taiwan next to China, or little Israel right next to an Arab world which for the most part refuses to recognize the right of Israel to exist. Even today, many new states are not recognized by many other states. In fact, there is no single state in the world which is fully recognized by all other existing states. So international recognition is simply a matter of degrees, and hundred percent recognition does not exist. Nor does a lack of recognition somehow make Pridnestrovie less of a state, or remove it from the map. Without a doubt, Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica has succeeded as a state. To recognize that is merely to bow to reality.
» The case for integration [1]

FAQ, MOLDOVA / PRIDNESTROVIE RELATIONS » Why, after all these years, does Moldova still want Pridnestrovie? [2] » What is the basis for Moldova's claim to Pridnestrovie? [3] » Why does Pridnestrovie not recognize itself to be part of Moldova? [4] » Is the conflict ethnic? Religious? [5] » Why are negotiations deadlocked? [6] » So what's next: How will the conflict play out? [7] » Is there a definitive solution for settling the issue permanently? [8] » Are you communists? Is Moldova communist? [9]

READ MORE: Country facts [9] More maps [9] Historical borders [9] Territorial size comparisons [9] State sovereignty [9] Territorial independence [9]