The popularly elected - the results of the 2016 election allow us to say so - President of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Vadim Krasnoselsky has headed the country for almost a year and a half. The term is relatively small but sufficient to draw the first conclusions, to see the policy pursued by the statesman and his views on certain socially significant issues.
During this short time period, the leader has showed himself as a principled politician, consistently upholding the will of the people of Pridnestrovie in the international arena. The geography of diplomatic contacts has considerably expanded. At the same time, the priorities have remained unchanged - the course for international recognition and strengthening of ties with Russia.
On the birthday of the head of state, Novosti Pridnestrovie has prepared a compilation of his statements and quotes that in more detail reveal the personality of the president and some political emphases.
Pridnestrovie's path
02/16/18 A meeting with future officers of the Armed Forces
"Only those states that have proved their viability are recognised. We are an unrecognized but viable state that has achieved its independence. We have all the attributes of power, our own banking system, foreign economic activities, our own customs, Armed Forces. We must value independence as a guarantee of our security. To value the peacekeeping forces with Russia troops as its basic component who are deployed on our banks. To defend our independence."
01/04/17 A meeting between the presidents of Moldova and Pridnestrovie in Bendery
"I am convinced that the people of Pridnestrovie made their choice - the independence of the PMR with subsequent accession to Russia, and it is our independence that guarantees our security."
The legitimate right to statehood
03/24/17 Congress of the Pridnestrovian People's Forum
"I am deeply convinced that the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic has every reason for its statehood in terms of international law. There is no alternative. Agreeing to any forms of federative or confederative state is very dangerous. If we lose statehood, then we will create very serious risks and very great danger up to the resumption of hostilities. I am deeply convinced of this."
16/06/17 A speech in the Oxford Union
"Only on 2 September 1990, based on the decision of the Moldovan Parliament, the inhabitants of our region made a historic decision to establish the Pridnestrovian Moldavian SSR; besides, as part of the Soviet Union. So who were the real 'separatists'?"
11/21/17 A round table in the Federal Chamber of Advocates in Moscow
"We speak about the political and legal grounds for the international recognition of Pridnestrovie's independence all available venues. I have repeatedly said and continue to insist that any impartial international court will confirm the legitimacy of these grounds. The determination of Pridnestrovians to create their own state is our historical right.”
Unification with Moldova has long been removed from the agenda
20/03/18 A meeting with residents of Bendery
"We cannot violate the laws of our states. Otherwise, it will be a state crime, the betrayal of the interests of our people. When they say that the elites cannot agree, it's not true. The current legislation must be observed. Based on our legislation, we cannot talk about integration, federalisation and special status. Based on the current Constitution, we can only talk about an independent state - the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. We no longer fight for independence. We are maitaining it since we have already achieved the independence of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. We are seeking recognition of Pridnestrovie."
01/30/18 An interview with Russia's Zvezda TV channel
"Twenty-seven years has passed since the establishment of the PMR. What could have been done the day before yesterday or yesterday is already impossible today. Moldova has lost the opportunities it really had. From 1990 to 2003, we proposed various options for coexistence within a single state. But they rejected them. Of course, the author of our independence is the people. But co-authors are all participants in the '5 +2' format, to whom we submitted all our proposals. The fact that something was not agreed upon and something did not work out is another matter. Then what do they want from us? We have proposed a lot of things, but we are told: 'No.' Therefore, we must be independent - we agree."
06/30/17 A board meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
"The only way to resolve our conflict is to recognize Pridnestrovie. I am convinced that many Moldovan politicians understand how to resolve this issue bloodlessly, in an absolutely political way. And they are ready, by and large, to recognize Pridnestrovie somewhere there, at the back of their mind. And given the electoral cycles that never cease in Moldova, they are certainly not morally ready to this. But we can help Moldovan politicians to recognise Pridnestrovie, and this will be the solution to our conflict."
11/09/17 An interview with Russia's Moskovsky Komsomolets daily
"No one can step twice into the same river. When the Kozak plan was being prepared for signing, there was a completely different situation around Pridnestrovie. Ukraine and Moldova have not yet finally chosen a pro-European path of development. There were no 'orange revolutions' and the related processes. There was another attitude towards the Russian Federation; there were no sanctions, no wars. Today Pridnestrovie is facing a new geopolitical reality. No need to remember what has long died."
On the 1992 conflict and the peacekeeping operation
10/23/17 An interview with Russia's TVTs channel
"First, the people of one nation do not kill each other. The tragedy we had survived in 1992 proves my words. If we were one nation, it would have been necessary to initiate a criminal case to give a legal assessment and identify those accountable for the murder of their own compatriots. If this hasn't been done so far, what kind of one nation we are? Contradiction, right?"
08/29/17 At a presidential press conference
"Neighboring Moldova, in my opinion, has not yet abandoned the desire to resolve the issue by force. What factors confirm this? I want to recall you the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova, which has made it clear that Russia is an occupant. Peidnestrovie is an occupation zone. And all politicians are invited and obliged to apply all political and diplomatic measures right up to military ones to solve this problem. This is the first decision that indicates the desire to put an end to peace negotiations."
02/16/18 A meeting with future officers of the Armed Forces
"I am deeply convinced that the peacekeeping operation is the guarantor of the security of our state. Who in this room will argue with this? No one. This is an objective reality. All of us read publications and see attacks, dangerous attacks by some 'hawks' from the opposite bank, who want to take revenge for 1992. But for the peacekeepers, what would happen? The peacekeepers are a deterrent. Not in vain has Pridnestrovie introduced criminal responsibility for denying the positive role of Russia's peacekeeping mission in Pridnestrovie. This is right. We protect our security."
01/30/18 An interview with Russia's Zvezda TV channel
"Firstly, OGRF (Operational Group of Russian Forces) is the basic component of peacekeeping on the Dniester. Secondly, the Russian servicemen continue to guard warehouses with ammunition. The ammunition continues to pose a threat, and if something explodes there, God forbid, the damage will be enormous for both Pridnestrovie and Moldova and Ukraine. The issue of taking the weaponry away [to Russia] is not being resolved; recycling is impossible. Therefore, it is impossible to say that the problem has been solved. The Russian soldiers, guarding warehouses, including from this point of view, preserve peace and security in the region."
Cooperation with Russia
03/20/18 An interview with the First Pridnestrovian TV channel
"Russia provides military assistance in the implementation of the peacekeeping mission. Not a single peacekeeper has been killed in Pridnestrovie in 26 years. There is also a cultural, humanitarian and economic interaction between Russia and Pridnestrovie. We are grateful, and we are counting on the continuation of those relations that are available today."
01/30/18 An interview with Russia's Zvezda TV channel
"The people of 32 nationalities live in Pridnestrovie, and they are all equal. Representatives of 192 nationalities live in Russia. There has never been a titular nation there either. This is the basis on which everything else is built: culture, traditions, history. That is why Pridnestrovie aspires to Russia: it is understandable and close to us."
On the Russian world
03/05/18 An interview with Russia 24
"The Russian world is a platform where people of any nationality, of any religion, any color can co-exist without the superiority of one nation over another. And they can develop their traditions, their culture, their language. This is what Pridnestrovie has. We have 220,000 citizens of Russia, and the other hundreds of thousands consider themselves compatriots."
11/21/17 A round table in the Federal Chamber of Advocates in Moscow
"It is important for us the Russia know the opinion of Pridnestrovie and about Pridnestrovie. To date, our republic is a litmus test Russia's strength. Historically speaking, Pridnestrovie has always been an integral part of this great, strong, truly powerful state: beginning with Catherine II's reign and, in principle, to this day. Unfortunately, disasters have weakened the state, but the litmus test has been preserved; the Russian world has been preserved."
On relations with Ukraine
01/30/18 An interview with Russia's Zvezda TV channel
"Pridnestrovie should not be a hostage in relations between Russia and Ukraine. Of course, we have chosen our strategic course towards Russia, and we are not going to change it. But we cannot forget about our neighbours - Moldova and Ukraine. We need to develop good-neighborly relations with them."
12/26/17 An interview with the Regnum news agency
"What is Ukraine for us? This is a guarantor state in the Moldo-Pridnestrovian settlement, a mediator in the '5+2' format, an observer state to the Joint Control Commission. It was Ukraine that Pridnestrovians left for during the acutest phase of hostilities in 1992. And we are grateful for having received us and provided us with all possible assistance and cooperation."
A chance to be heard
01/22/18 An interview with Russia 24
"We were heard at the PACE. There were no recommendations, no requirements. They are processing this information. Last year we appealed to the United Nations to grant Pridnestrovie special observer status. We are trying to use all the levers, all the venues to disseminate information about Pridnestrovie. We have half a million citizens. We have a good economy. Good living conditions. We have a democracy. We have a civil society. Is this not an indicator of self-sufficiency and independence?"
09/08/17 An interview with the First Pridnestrovian TV channel
"The UN is a respected international venue, where practically all recognised states of the world are represented. We have found a lot of examples when states are represented there as observers. There are 500,000 people of 32 nationalities living in Pridnestrovie. And we have lived for 27 years being unfrecognised. I consider it absolutely fair to create all the necessary conditions for the voice of our people, our citizens, to be heard at the UN."
There is no Romanophobia in Pridnestrovie
03/05/18 International Forum "Together with Russia"
"We talked about the fallen soldiers of the Russian Empire buried in a unique memorial complex in Bendery. Over 5,000 Russian soldiers from 115 regiments of the Russian Imperial Army are burried there. Among them are generals, officers and soldiers. There ia also a foreign sector in the memorial. The Romanians who died or were killed in Bendery from 1941 to 1944 are also burried there. There are crosses on their graves; we give them military honours. How could we be blamed for Romanophobia?"
Preserving the Moldavian culture
11/27/17 An interview with Russia's Izvestia daily
"Our state is called the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. This is the territory where the Moldavian ethnos, culture and alphabet have been preserved. By and large, I'm the president of the Moldavians. The language is fundamental; therefore, but for Pridnestrovie, there would be no Moldavians on the world map. And the fact that Moldova is raising this thorny issue is wrong, short-sighted and erroneous. But this is their choice."
On geopolitics, basic values and people's will
12/27/17 A speech at PSU
"Today's world is a puzzle shuffled from time to time by geopolitical actors. It was yesterday, it is today, it will be tomorrow. It is enough to look at the maps of Europe, the world and see how everything is changing; the boundaries of states are changing like in a puzzle. It happens in chaos, in geopolitical catastrophes and wars. And in this troubled world, the wise Pridnestrovian people have chosen the right formula for their existence. This is the independence of the PMR as a guarantee of our security, a guarantee of peace in our land."
03/15/18 A meeting with representatives of the youth movement "Forty Forties - Pridnestrovie"
"Today there is much talk about democracy, liberalism, tolerance. Undoubtedly, democracy is a regular stage in the development of the state. But it is important that democracy be based on values and traditions. Many countries, including Russia and Pridnestrovie, are going this way today. For our republic, the main values are Orthodoxy, absence of nationalism, equality, respect for history and culture."
02/16/18 A meeting with future officers of the Armed Forces
"It is up to Pridnestrovians to decide whether I'm doing well or not. Something works out; something does not, or the goal is not achieved as quickly as I would like. Is it difficult to be president? I think that it is not more difficult than to be a Suvorov cadet, a serviceman or a law enforcer. It depends on whether a person is psychologically ready to perform his duties."
