Transnistria's September 2, 1990, declaration of independence rests upon the following Four Pillars: #

Self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

# Transnistria's separate history from Moldova # Actual distinctiveness # Reversal of

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg , image_width = 200 , caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...

Moldova does not agree with the Four Pillars theory and disputes the status of Transnistria.

Explaining the pillars

# Self-determination is the concept that, in the words of

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

president

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

, ''No people must be forced under a sovereignty under which it does not wish to live''. Transnistria argues that since the majority of today's countries were founded on the principle of

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

, they too have this moral right. # Transnistria's separate history from Moldova refers to the fact that Transnistria has no historical ties with

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

and that it was never at any time in its history part of an independent Moldovan state. Traditionally, the

Dniester The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...

river formed an international border between the two. Transnistria therefore argues that Moldova's claim to Transnistria is not supported by history. # Actual distinctiveness demonstrates that Transnistria has few things in common with Moldova. The majority (61.2% as of 2005"СОКРАЩЕНИЕ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ ПРИДНЕСТРОВЬЯ"
{{better source, date=April 2017) in Transnistria are

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

who speak Russian and

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

in contrast to Moldova where most of the population are ethnic Moldovans and speak Moldovan. The two also differ in alphabets, religions, economies, etc. # Reversal of Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact is the legal argument that the only tie between Moldova and Transnistria was the forced 1940-annexation by the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

after the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but that this annexation was declared ''null and void'' by Moldova itself with its 1990 reversal of the legal effects of the

. This, argues Transnistria, also voids any claim to territory obtained as a result of the pact as the result of the legal principle of ''

status quo ante bellum The term ''status quo ante bellum'' is a Latin phrase meaning "the situation as it existed before the war". The term was originally used in treaties to refer to the withdrawal of enemy troops and the restoration of prewar leadership. When used ...

''.

References

External links

pridnestrovie.net: The four pillars
Politics of Transnistria History of Transnistria