How the population becomes a nation, or what is Pridnestrovian identity

The international scientific and practical conference dedicated to the Pridnestrovian identity and the origins of statehood opened today at the Pridnestrovian State University.

Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Alexander Korshunov addressed the participants with a welcoming speech. The speaker's address was voiced by Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council Galina Antyufeeva from the rostrum of the assembly hall of the main building of PSU.

State Advisor to the President of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, deputy of the Supreme Council of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic of the 1st convocation, member of the Advisory Assembly of the first Pridnestrovian deputies, professor Anna Volkova delivered a report on the historical foundations of the Pridnestrovian identity to the participants and guests of the conference.

Anna Volkova noted that at different times the territories of modern Pridnestrovie were part of different state entities. Among them there are the Old Russian State, the Galicia-Volyn Principality, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Crimean Khanate, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Empire, and the USSR.

Director of the Institute of Public Administration and Social and Humanitarian Sciences, Director of the Center for the Study of Peacekeeping, Professor Elena Bobkova spoke about the difficult path of our republic in matters of forming the community of the "Pridnestrovian people" and preserving its identity. She noted that some of the distinctive features of the Pridnestrovian people are solidarity and trust.

Director of the Institute of Public Administration and Social and Humanitarian Sciences Elena Bobkova noted that 71.6% of the respondents in the republic feel themselves to be citizens of Pridnestrovie according to sociological research today. 21% note their civil affiliation with the Russian Federation. The residents of the republic associate themselves with Ukraine and Moldova to a lesser extent. This shows that civil identity prevails over national identity in Pridnestrovie.

The opening of the conference also discussed the conflict of identities between Pridnestrovie and Moldova. The corresponding report was made by the head of the Department of Political Science and Political Analysis of the Institute of Public Administration and Social and Humanitarian Sciences, Professor Svetlana Osipova.

The head of the Department of Political Science and Political Analysis, Professor Svetlana Osipova noted that until 1812, the territories of modern Pridnestrovie and Moldova had never been part of a single state. The territory of Bessarabia was occupied by Romania after the collapse of the Russian Empire, and Soviet power was established on the territory of Pridnestrovie. Pridnestrovie and Moldova again formed a single state entity - the Moldavian SSR within the Soviet Union in 1940. This political entity was a response to the political situation of that time. The events of the late 1989-1990s became evidence that a single civil nation was never formed in the Moldavian SSR, and therefore the residents of Pridnestrovie and Moldova have different civilizational and geopolitical preferences, orientations and ideals. The residents of the two states differ in their views on the post-Soviet legacy, as well as on the issue of preserving historical memory. Teachers, students and invited experts will talk during ten days, at the site of the country's main university about how the Pridnestrovian people were created, their identity, spiritual and cultural values ​​as part of an international conference.