Transdniestria - The Country That Doesn't Exist

[Kazimiera]

The Country That Doesn't Exist

Source: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ph...&sf103798755=1

In little-known Transdniestria, life is a constant search for identity. One photographer recently took a closer look.


In 2015, Transdniestrians celebrated the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II—also known as the “great patriotic war”—and 25 years of independence from Moldova.

Snaking down the border between Moldova and Ukraine is a landlocked sliver of terrain called Transdniestria. It’s home to more than half a million people and run by an independent government. It has its own form of currency, a constitution, and a standing army. The national anthem is, “We Sing the Praises of Transdniestria.”

But Transdniestria—sometimes spelled Transnistria—is not recognized by the United Nations. In other words, it’s not considered a country.

A LAND IN LIMBO


The “culture house” is a relic of the Soviet era that lives on in the villages of Transdniestria. This one, in Cionurciu, has been cleaned in preparation for a dancing event to celebrate the end of World War II.


Left: Nadesha Bondarenco—editor in chief of Bravo, the newspaper of the Transdniestrian Communist Party—stands amid flags and a bust of Lenin. The CP has just one seat in the parliament. Bondarenco says that although Transdniestria is a capitalist society, symbols of communism still abound. Right: In Tiraspol, Transdniestria, a statue of Vladimir Lenin stands in front of the parliament building, also known as the "Supreme Soviet."

Republic (PMR), Transdniestria is technically part of Moldova. But, says Eastern Europe scholar Dennis Deletant, “the separatist statelet has had de facto independence since the Moldovan civil war in 1992,” which pitted Moldovans against Transdniestrians.


Since 1990, this breakaway region in Moldova’s predominantly Russian-speaking area east of the Dniester River has remained unrecognized by any UN member state.

Transdniestria is sometimes referred to as a “frozen conflict” because, while fighting ceased in the area 25 years ago, no formal peace treaty has ever been drawn. Today the perimeter of Transdniestria is patrolled by “about 1,200 Russian peacekeepers,” says Deletant, “who enforce an uneasy cease-fire.”

And though its residents are patriotic, calling themselves “Transdniestrians,” many pledge allegiance to Russia rather than Moldova.


Zinaida Borets, 37, is a Transdniestrian actress who has belonged to a Tiraspol theater troupe for more than a decade. Every year, near the anniversary of the end of World War II, the troupe performs a play dedicated to the glory of Soviet soldiers.


Left: As Transdniestrians celebrate Victory Day with a military parade—complete with Soviet-era tank—Russian flags line the streets of Tiraspol. Right: Men fish on the Dniester River, just a few hundred meters from a power station in Dubassari.


Andrey Smolenskiy, 30, works out every day at this Soviet-era gym in Cionurciu. When he’s not exercising, he runs a travel agency.


Left: Transdniestria is not recognized by any country in the world, so a Transdniestrian passport is not valid. But since dual nationality is permitted, most people are entitled to either a Moldovan, Russian, or Ukrainian passport. Some keep additional papers, waiting to see if "the wind will blow West or East," says Vanden Driessche. Right: At an equestrian center on the outskirts of Tiraspol, the son of the owner prepares for a jumping competition.


In Tiraspol, military guards of the president (Vadim Krasnoselsky, elected last year) take a break at the end of the Victory Day celebration.


Left: The Bender Independence War Museum commemorates the war with Moldova. The most violent clashes took place in Bender, west of the Dniester River. Right: Along the highway that links Tiraspol to the industrial city of Ribnita, a monument commemorates the Second World War.

This national identity crisis was what compelled Belgian photographer Thomas Vanden Driessche to travel to Transdniestria and document life there.

Starting in the capital of Tiraspol, Vanden Driessche spent two weeks driving around the region with a fixer who spoke Russian, one of the territory's main languages (along with Romanian and Ukrainian).

For the most part, says Vanden Driessche, people were comfortable with him taking their portraits. But when he was out on the street with his camera, something struck him about the way people reacted. Instead of being either overly friendly or confrontational—the two extremes he typically encounters—Vanden Driessche was met with an unfamiliar indifference.

“It was strange,” he says. “Nobody was happy. But nobody was pissed off.”


In a Tiraspol theater, actors perform in a patriotic play that pays tribute to the Soviet soldiers who died during World War II.

[Jehan]

I think, the territory is officialy consider as part of modavia, not ukraine.