The historically separate territory of Pridnestrovie must have the right freely to determine its own future in a peaceful and democratic manner and the vast majority of the people support independent statehood. This is the conclusion of a series of poll results. As reported by the International Crisis Group, "in a 1998 poll carried out jointly by Moldovan, Pridnestrovian, Russian, and U.S. researchers, 83 percent of respondents supported Pridnestrovian statehood." In the nearly ten years since the poll, sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation, living standards have gone up and support for Pridnestrovie's statehood has increased even more: It now stands at 96+ percent.

A poll in 2000 showed that most Pridnestrovian respondents felt they live better than Moldovans. Today, some eight years later, it is time for the world to bow to reality and recognize that in Pridnestrovie, a separate independent and quite successful country exists and has existed for almost two decades now.

Also according to the International Crisis Group, the Pridnestrovian respondents "have shown higher trust in their state institutions than their Moldovan counterparts."

Dr Oleh Protsyk from the European Centre for Minority Issues in Germany studied this issue, too. He says:
" - For very significant numbers of Transnistrians, their regional institutions are democratically legitimate government bodies and not simply the facades of repressive and irresponsible authoritarian rulers, as a reading of some of the Western press might suggest."

This statement, published in 2005 in the study "Moldova’s Dilemmas in Democratizing Transnistria", reinforces what Pridnestrovians already know: That the country's democratic institutions work better than those of governments in neighboring countries.

" - Despite Transnistria’s sinister image in the Western media, the region is not a gangsters’ land where no rules and norms apply," Dr. Oleh Protsyk goes on to tell us in his report. He explains that Pridnestrovie has "succeeded in building workable institutions that provide for its citizens a sense of normalcy and rule of law. For example, there is a constitutional court [0] that routinely makes judgments on matters pertaining to the implementation of the 1995 constitution, with the court’s rulings often going against the wishes of parliament and, sometimes, of the president."

A report from the European Union Institute for Security Studies, also published in 2005, has similar positive words on Pridnestrovie. For starters, it applauds the democratic advances in the nation and says that the country's politics "is moving towards more pluralism". In fact, it even recommends implementation of the European Neighborhood Policy Action Plan in Pridnestrovie and recognizes that "this would be in line also with the Transnistrian (Pridnestrovian) parliament's own initiatives on the reform of the political system."

On the economy, the report is also positive: It states clearly that Pridnestrovie "is not geographically or economically isolated from the region around it. Quite the opposite in fact: it is relatively open economically to the outside world". This is true, of course, and underscores how Western-oriented and integrated Pridnestrovie is. For instance, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Tiraspol and Leipzig, Germany, have direct ties. And most of Pridnestrovie's dollar earnings come from exports to the United States.

In its summary, the EU calls Pridnestrovie "a very open economy with a high degree of trade with the EU and the US." Pridnestrovie is of the firm conviction that freedom and democracy flourish when a country and its constitution is based on an open, Western-oriented model of respect for the individual and for his or her human rights. Pridnestrovie is seeking to integrate itself in the international community and become an established, recognized partner to countries with similar views of the world.

So discard Moldova's hate rhetoric. Just check the facts and learn the truth, objectively, for yourself: Tiraspol is committed to the fundamental principles of multi-party democracy, the rule of law and market economies.

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