17 September 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of Pridnestrovie's referendum on independence and subsequent accession to the Russian Federation. It was the seventh referendum held in the PMR. Prior to that, Pridnestrovians had already voted twice for the independence of their country: at the referendums held from October 1989 to December 1990 — on the establishment of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian SSR and at the referendum on the formation of the PMR which took place on 1 December 1991.
The first of them was attended by 79% of the residents of the left bank districts of the MSSR and the city of Bendery, 95.8% of whom voted for the establishment of a new union republic. On 1 December1991, 97.7% of the country's residents out of 78% who came to the polls voted for the formation of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic.
It should be mentioned that three independence referendums occurred in 2006 in the world. In addition to Pridnestrovie, Montenegro held a plebiscite on secession from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 21 May, and on 12 November an independence referendum took place in South Ossetia. As a result: 55.49% of Montenegro voters supported the secession from Serbia, and in South Ossetia, 99% of those who came to the polls cast their votes for independence. In Pridnestrovie, as was mentioned above, 97.2% of the Pridnestrovians taking part in the 2006 referendum voted for independence and subsequent accession to Russia, with the total turnout of 78.6%. Montenegro's independence came to be quickly recognised by all countries.
Meanwhile, international observers worked both at the Pridnestrovian and South Ossetian referendums. For example, representatives of EU countries and members of the European Parliament were present in Pridnestrovie. They all came on their personal initiative as part of various international organisations. Apparently, not only as observers but also in terms of learning real democracy from Pridnestrovie, the Pridnestrovian referendum was monitored by regional parliament members from semi-recognised Kosovo and autonomous Palestine and Republika Srpska.
By the way, Kosovo, which has already been recognised by a large number of countries, has not held any referendum at all. The sovereignty declaration was adopted the regional parliament on 17 February 2008. The extent to which it reflects the people's will is testified by the fact that Kosovo Serbs almost immediately declared their independence. The process of recognising the Serbian region's independence went off rather quickly. The USA and the vast majority of EU countries immediately supported the «will» of Kosovars. Moreover, they began to exert pressure on the International Court of Justice which started in December 2009 on Serbia's initiative to consider the compliance of Kosovo's independence recognition with international law. «The United States calls on the International Court to leave Kosovo's declaration of independence without changes as an expression of the independence of Kosovo — either refuse to comment on its legitimacy or affirm that international law does not prohibit secession," said the US State Department's statement sent to the International Court of Justice. Representatives of Germany's foreign ministry noted in their turn: «The unilateral declaration of independence does not contradict international law.» The reaction of the UK's foreign office was also unambiguous: «Serbia has made it clear it will never agree with Kosovo's independence, and Kosovo does not want to be part of Serbia. The courts cannot make the warring couples to stay married.» It is notable that Moldova and Georgia have not held referendums either. They did not even hold USSR preservation referendums. The local authorities refused to organise them. What is more, they tried to prevent Pridnestrovie, Abkhazia and South Ossetia from holding it.
The State Duma of the Russian Federation recognized the 2006 referendums in Transnistria and South Ossetia the will of the people which the world must heed. The reaction to the Pridnestrovian and South Ossetian referendums of the so-called international community, where only several players dictate their will, was unequivocal: «We won't recognise under any circumstances!» Official representatives of the US, Moldova, Ukraine, EU, OSCE and the Council of Europe publicly declared they would not recognise the results of the Pridnestrovian referendum. One of the arguments was that «the voters were very unanimous, which testifies to the undemocratic character of the voting.» In other words, it is democratic to spit upon the opinion of over 44% of the Montenegro voters opposing the country's secession from the FRY.
Igor Viktorov.
