It would appear that one of the many issues that has plagued Moldova since independence in 1991, separatism , has still not quite gone away. The mainly Russian speaking Transnistria, which mainly occupies the Eastern bank of the River Dnestr declared unilateral independence in 1991 causing at least 500 deaths in a Civil War, appears to be edging towards some form of compromise with the Moldovan authorities,
Having said that, unsurprisingly, things are not at all rosy. The latest spat hasn't cost any lives, but just some lost telephone calls: The Moscow Times reports that" guerrila phone tactics" have broken out between the two sides. Withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria remains incomplete however, in the absence of a political solution-Interfax reports that that Russia is trying to help set up a federal Moldovan state, including the semi-autonomous Christian Turkic area of Gagauzia. Inevitably, a lot of this comes down to money,and the United States may end up paying part of the costs according to Moldova Azi,
whilst Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the the Russian Liberal Democratic Party has some illiberal and undemocratic solutions to this problem, amongst others.
All this is probably lost on most ordinary Moldovans, whose country now appears to be a hub for both people trafficking and organ selling, the BBC reported in May. Moldova did, however beat Belarus 2-1 in the European Football Championship. Hooray!
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