Tiraspol, 16 May. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The Centre for Military and Political Studies of MGIMO-University has published a large interview with Pridnestrovi's foreign minister Vitaly Ignatyev. The Pridnestrovian diplomat spoke about the challenges facing the republic, warning of a possible escalation of tension in the region with unpredictable implications. He underscored, in the meantime, that Pridnestrovie remains the only pro-Russian state in this region of Eastern Europe since the civilisation code of Pridnestrovians had been formed over centuries of existence within the Russian state.
«In the early 1990s the Pridnestrovian people created their own country, disobeying the centrifugal trends pervasive in the former Soviet republics. Anti-Russian hysteria, which was popular in those years, was alien to Pridnestrovians as we believed and still believe it unnatural for our people who have always deemed themselves part of Russia," said Ignatyev.
According to him, the vector of Pridnestrovie's development is still opposite to the political preferences of Moldova and Ukraine, which are moving towards a rapprochement with the EU and the West in the broad sense of the word.
«We see ourselves as an integral part of the Russian world. The civilisation code of Pridnesrtrovians has evolved over centuries of existence within the Russian state," said the minister, stressing that over the years of Pridnestrovie's independence the strategic vectors of Moldova and the PMR had finally dispersed and become virtually opposite.
Moldova has been moving towards a rapprochement with the EU and Nato since the mid-200s. Pridnestrovie, in turn, voted during the 2006 referendum for independence followed by free accession to the Russian Federation. The new foreign policy concept, adopted in 2012, declares Eurasian integration to be the strategic priority of Pridnestrovie's development.
«We are striving to become part of the common trade and economic space within the Eurasian Union because we understand this market and have accustomed to it, and the cooperative ties we have inherited from the Soviet Union are still relevant today," said the diplomat.
Relations with Russia in all spheres is of strategic importance for Pridnestrovie. Russia, a historical ally of the Pridnestrovian, has effectively ensured for 25 years peace and security in Pridnestrovie as part of the peacekeeping operation, as well as the protection of the largest stockpile of Soviet weapons in Kolbasna village, which is carried out by the military of the Operative Group of Russian Forces. The efforts of the Russian Federation in the process of peaceful settlement of the conflict with the Republic of Moldova are also crucial. Russia remains today the only party to the negotiating process that is consistent in fulfilling its obligations as a guarantor and mediator of peaceful settlement.
«Pridnestrovie today is barely the only unequivocally pro-Russian state in this region of Eastern Europe, the centre of Russian culture, a country where history is not being overwritten following Western patterns. In fact, Pridnestrovie is an outpost of the Russian world," Ignatyev said, explaining that Pridnestrovie had never wished to be a burden for Russia.
«Pridnestrovie has a powerful resource, first of all economic, for creative development, but our capabilities are severely limited due to the blockade measures imposed by neighbouring states. In these circumstances, it is now vital that we should develop new mechanisms for interaction with Russia as its strategic partner to reverse the negative impact of external factors," noted the diplomat.
Relations with Russia permeate all spheres of life in Pridnestrovie, Ignatyev says, and Pridnestrovians have never separated themselves from Russia and the Russian world, despite the fact that 20 years ago they were divided against their will.
«Today our country is striving to do all it can to once again become part of Russia," he said.
It must be understood, at the same time, that Pridnestrovie has always faced the only, most dangerous and comprehensive challenge, which lies in the fact that the Pridnestrovian people have been denied for 27 years the right to self-determination, which is one of the fundamental principles of international law.
«But since no one has managed to prevent Pridnestrovians from exercising this right even by military force and building their own efficient sovereign state, they are trying to strangle the republic through other methods. It must be recognised that it is the existence of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic as an independent state is the main reason for the struggle that has been waged against us for decades," said Ignatyev.
