Dear students, teachers, heads of public and administrative authorities, dear Pridnestrovians!
I will give you today an open history lesson – the history of our native land, Pridnestrovie. It is important to know history, because history is not only about the past. If you study history competently and honestly, you can find today and even tomorrow in it. A hackneyed phrase: there is no future without history. That's how it is. It is truth. Those who do not know their history have no right to the future. History is not only dates and events. History is what shapes our values: languages, literature, traditions, customs. These values shape the people. History shapes the Pridnestrovian people. What is it like here without history? You won’t understand the Pridnestrovian people if you don’t know history. You won't understand its essence. You will not understand the formation of Pridnestrovian statehood, the legal foundations of this statehood without understanding the essence of the Pridnestrovian people.
I have a very difficult task actually. What I will tell you fits into eight volumes of the encyclopedia that is currently being published. These are eight volumes of the encyclopedia. I need to give you the basics in an hour, give events, interesting events. This is difficult. Please, listen. I hope you will be interested after the open lesson and you will look up information on the Internet and other sources. That is, I provide a springboard for further knowledge.
The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic is 33 years old. Our region, Pridnestrovie, the territory along the Dniester, is millennia old. Many great nations have left a bright mark here. These are the Cimmerians, and the Scythians, and the Goths, and the Sarmatians, and the Huns, and the Slavs, and the Avars, and the Tatars, and the Mongols, and so on. I would like to focus on the Scythians, on the Scythian culture.
Today there are more than 600 mounds untouched by time in our region (it was historically called the Northern Black Sea region). For examble, Odessa, Nikolaev, Kherson regions or Crimea, the mounds there have been largely plundered there unfortunately. We are lucky, our mounds have not been touched. This is precisely the subject of research by archaeologists. Thousands of different artifacts have been recovered to date. They are in museums. I advise you to visit the archaeological museum, which is located in Catherine Park. You will touch the history of the peoples that I have outlined and get acquainted with the artifacts that are presented there.
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the fifth century BC, visited our region Pridnestrovie and described it as the land of the Scythians, as the land of a great people, whose representatives already mastered agriculture, metal processing and were great warriors, of course.
Kievan Rus, which was formed in the 9th century and extended its influence here, did not bypass the history of Pridnestrovie. Kievan Rus fought with the Pechenegs, and with the Torks, and with the Polovtsians then. As a result, the first statehood appeared in the XII-XIII centuries on the territory of Pridnestrovie - the Galician-Volyn principality, which fell under the blows of the Mongol-Tatars (XIII century). Another empire emerged on our territory IN the 14th century; we belonged to the Principality of Poland-Lithuania. The southern outskirts and southern Pridnestrovie became a zone of interest for the Turks in the XIV-XV centuries. The Turks captured the city of Tigina, Tyagyanyakech and built a fortress called “Bendery” (translated from Turkish as “fortified point”) in 1538. It was from that time that the city of Bendery began to play an important military strategic and economic role as a fortress.
Our territory was a zone of interests of the Polish-Lithuanian Principality, the Ottoman Porte, the Crimean Tatars, and the Zaporozhye army at the turn of the XV-XVIII centuries. The Zaporozhye army raided the Bendery fortress periodically, captured it, and destroyed. The Turks rebuilt the fortress in 1619. This is how they rebuilt it – this is what it looks like today.
Turkish traveler Evliya Celebi described the fortress as a very fortified defense point, which is located on 60 hectares of land, in the center (not quite in the center) there is a citadel, that is, a castle that has survived to this day, a passage, and barracks. The fortress could accommodate up to 50 thousand Janissaries totally – such a garrison could exist in the city of Bendery. The fortress of Bendery was one of the central ones in the so-called necklace of fortress defensive points of the Ottoman Porte.
There are many interesting stories associated with the fortress of Bendery. It was in the Bendery fortress that many historical figures left their bright mark. Examples include Charles XII, Mazepa, and Orlik, of course.
Charles XII suffered a famous defeat in the Battle of Poltava in 1709. As they say, the European lion could not resist Peter I. The remnants of the army of Charles XII, and Charles XII himself, and Mazepa, and part of the Zaporozhye army that fought on the side of Charles XII, arrived in the city of Bendery. This is an interesting period. 1709-1713. The city of Bendery was the unofficial capital of the Kingdom of Sweden. The Senate held sessions, and decisions were made there. By and large, Charles XII ruled Sweden from the city of Bendery. It was not in vain that he was there. His goal was to pit the Ottoman Porte against the Russian Empire. Through intrigue, through pressure on diplomacy - French, British and so on - he tried to persuade the Turks to war against the Russian Empire. The presence of Charles XII in Bendery irritated Peter I.
As for the fate of Mazepa... Mazepa died on September 21, 1709 in the village of Varnitsa. His grave has not survived to this day. The burial place is known and marked. Philip Orlik, the future hetman of Ukraine, who would be proclaimed in exile in 1710, seized Mazepa’s remains and reburied in the city of Galati (present-day Romania). The grave was looted there, and, in fact, Mazepa’s final resting place has not been established.
Charles XII set up his first camp opposite Bendery. If you look from the side of the Bendery embankment, the first camp of Charles XII was directly opposite. If you look closely, there are three stones in the Dniester, when the Dniester subsides. It was the Swedes who made the crossings. They are still preserved. Such stone paths going into the Dniester. Charles XII built his camp in the bend of the Dniester opposite the Bender fortress literally a couple of months later. The flood demolished the camp, and Charles XII built a fortified point on the territory of Varnitsa, calling it New Stockholm, or Karlpolis.
Let's return to Peter I. He was really annoyed by Charles XII, and he was annoyed by the Ottoman Porte. Peter I personally leading the Russian troops in the summer of 1711 set out on the so-called Danube campaign, which ended in collapse for the Russian army. They could not reach the Danube. They reached the Prut - this is the border between modern Moldova and Romania. They were pushed back by Turkish troops and were unable to advance further. In addition, they were disarmed by the Turks. The situation was very difficult. It was necessary to make peace between Turkey and the Russian Empire. This was done by Peter I. Charles XII was in the city of Bendery that time. He learned about the peace negotiations, jumped on his horse and rode from Bendery to the Prut River. Moreover, he galloped past both Russian positions and Turkish positions. He came to the seraskier of the camp and the vizier Ahmed Pasha, demanding that he give him troops so that he would finally defeat Peter I. A peace treaty between the Porte and Russia had already been concluded by this time. Ahmed Pasha said something like this: “You have already experienced them. We tried them. If you want to fight, take your people and go fight. I won't give my people. I will not violate the peace treaty". Charles XII galloped back empty-handed, furious at this refusal. Russian troops left the borders of what is now Bessarabia, Moldova, and went to St. Petersburg, Moscow, and their places of deployment on August 13, 1711. Charles XII was a vindictive man, a very vindictive man. He achieved the removal of the vizier Ahmed Pasha from his post through pressure and intrigue on French diplomacy, and ultimately Ahmed Pasha was executed in Turkey by by beheading.
The history of Charles XII in the city of Bendery did not end there. He continued to be there, intriguing and pitting the Ottoman Porte against Russia. This irritated the Sultan. There is such a moment in history. The Sultan sent Arabian stallions to Charles XII, thereby hinting: it’s time for you to go to your home, you are staying here in Bendery too long. What did Charles XII do in response? He chopped up the Arabian stallions, salted the meat in barrels and told the seraskier of the fortress that he thought that they had sent him provisions.
In general, the Turks nicknamed Charles XII “metal head” because of his stubbornness. The Turks received orders to force Charles XII out of the Bender fortress ultimately. On February 1, 1713, the famous kalabalik took place, that is, a fight, disorder, battle. Charles XII was wounded, the tip of his nose and the tip of his finger were torn off, he was captured and sent to Turkey as a result of the unequal battle. His people were practically killed. Then the Turks returned him to Sweden, of course. Charles XII died in Norway in another battle four years later.
If you pay attention, there is a double-headed eagle of the Russian Empire on the coat of arms of the city of Bendery, and there is a lion with a human face below. The lion represents Charles XII, who lies calmly in the city of Bendery. We got such a heraldic example.
Then the fortress of Bendery was the center of attraction for both Russia and Turkey. This is understandable. All subsequent Russian-Turkish wars did not bypass the fortress of Bendery. The first attempt to take the fortress was made by Field Marshal Munnich in 1738, when he approached with his army and tried to besiege the Bender fortress, but he simply fired artillery at this fortified point from the side of present-day Parkany being unable to cross the Dniester. He was forced to turn back having failed to achieve success.
The well-known Baron Munchausen also took part in these artillery duels. He was a very young eighteen-year-old youth, the adjutant of Prince Ulrich, who participated in the battles as part of the troops of Minich then. The description when Munchausen flies on a cannonball past the fortress citadel concerns the fortress of Bendery. A monument was built to him in the fortress of Bendery, but not as a comedy hero, but as a captain of the Russian Imperial Army. He served Russia for more than ten years under Empress Anna Ioannovna.
The second attempt to capture the fortress of Bendery concerns another Russian-Turkish war of 1770. Chief General Pyotr Ivanovich Panin and his army began the siege of the Bendery fortress on July 15, 1770. Panin, thanks to the advice and work of engineer-lieutenant general Gerbel, dug earthen galleries to the fortress, since it was impossible to take the fortress head-on. The Turks caught the train of thought of Panin and Gerbel and dug counter galleries. There were underground battles, underground battles.
Catherine the Great hurried to capture the Bendery fortress, and a general battle took place from September 15 to 16, 1770. The so-called de-compression block, a large bomb weighing six and a half tons of gunpowder, was placed in one of the galleries. The gunpowder was exploded. Three columns of Russian troops were advanced into this bus. The first to fall was Colonel Miller, commander of the Tambov regiment. A bust of him was erected near the fortress. The fortress was taken as a result of a night battle. Many people died - Turks and Russian soldiers. The fortress was again yielded to the Turks under the terms of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace Treaty.
The next stage of the Russian-Turkish wars was 1789. The fortress was besieged by the well-known field marshal Grand Duke Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin. He took the fortress by siege without a fight in 1789. Potemkin had been in Bendery from 1790 to 1791. He lived there, and actually ruled the Moldo-Wallachian principality, including Bessarabia. He managed to do a lot in 1,5-2 years. The Treaty of Jassy was concluded after his death. The border between the Ottoman Porte and the Russian Empire was established along the Dniester. The city of Bendery was again given to the Ottoman Porte.
The fortress finally came under Russian rule in 1806. General Meyendorff took the fortress by deception, apparently by bribing the seraskier then. These actions were described by Staff Captain Kotlyarevsky, later a famous Ukrainian writer.
1791 Treaty of Jassy, this was a significant date. It was from this time that a modern community began to form the Pridnestrovian people. What happened? Russia, developing the Little Russia and New Russia lands, began to recruit people of different nationalities and different nationalities to these lands. Catherine the Great gave the most important thing at the same time: freedom and land. There was no serfdom here as such. Representatives of different classes came to Bessarabia - those who did not want to remain under Ottoman citizenship. These were many people of different nationalities. People of 72 ethnic groups, national groups and nationalities live in Pridnestrovie today. It all comes from there, it started in 1792. The Russian Empire was interested in strengthening the banks of the Dniester. It was precisely this interest that necessitated the founding of Tiraspol in 1792, Grigoriopol and nearby villages. The Sredinnaya fortress first arose on the site of Tiraspol. It was built by engineer De Volan and personally supervised by then Field Marshal Suvorov. 1792 is in fact the starting point of Russia’s stay here, on the banks of the Dniester. Many historical figures have left their mark here. Emperors Alexander I, Nicholas I, Alexander II, Nicholas II visited our region both Bendery and Tiraspol. Such prominent field marshals as Suvorov, Potemkin, Kutuzov, Barclay de Tolly, Vorontsov, Rumyantsev, Wittgenstein left their mark on the history of Pridnestrovie. Generals Panin, Raevsky, Musin-Pushkin, Meyendorff, Dragomirov, Brusilov and many others lived here in Bendery, Tiraspol, Rybnitsa. Field Marshal Rumyantsev was actually born in Pridnestrovie, in the village of Stroentsy.
There is a cemetery, a famous necropolis, where soldiers of 115 regiments of the Russian Imperial Army are buried - 5 thousand officers, soldiers and generals in Bendery, you probably saw when drove past. Regiments, names, dates of birth and death are engraved on the memorial plaques. There are warriors of the Russian Empire who defended Russia in all battles from Napoleonic troops until the First World War. I advise you to visit this place, preferably with a tour, or without a tour, read the names, get acquainted with the history. This is our history, the history of Pridnestrovie.
The poet Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich did not ignore our region with his attention. He was in exile in Chisinau, and was passing through Bendery more than once, on his way to Odessa to see Field Marshal Vorontsov. He dedicated lines in his poem “Poltava” to Bendery.
Pushkin was looking for Mazepa's grave. It was not in vain that he searched. He was there, but the remains were no longer there. In addition, all the fallen soldiers from personal guard of Charles XII were buried there, in Bendery. Visiting the historical necropolis in Bendery, you will see this. I recommend visiting.
The Bucharest Peace Treaty which was signed by then General Kutuzov was concluded in 1812. He was appointed commander of the army and became a field marshal after this. Bessarabia was taken in the Russian Empire according to this peace treaty.
It is impossible to ignore the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1887. I want to remind you that this was a war of liberation. Alexander II liberated the southern Slavs, who were under the yoke of the Ottoman Porte. By the way, our fellow countrymen took part in this war: the 55th Podolsk Infantry Regiment, the 56th Zhitomir Infantry Regiment, Astrakhan and Volyn, which were part of the 14th Infantry Division stationed in Pridnestrovie. Both Mount St. Nicholas and the Shipka Pass are abundantly watered with the blood of our fellow countrymen. It was our fellow countrymen who liberated Bulgaria and gave independence to Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and other states of southern Europe. It is a fact.
Geopolitical events such as the First World War, the October Revolution, and the annexation of Bessarabia by royal Romania left their mark on the history of our region.
Royal Romania annexed Bessarabia in 1918. The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created on July 29, 1924on the initiative of the Soviet government. This is important to understand. This is the basis of our statehood by and large – the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Why was the MASSR created on the left bank of the Dniester? It was created with the aim of preserving the Moldovan language, Moldovan culture and Moldovan history. Why, because the Romanians completely excluded the Moldavian language, Moldavian history, and Moldavian epic.
The next geopolitical event is the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact concluded on August 23, 1939. This pact in history is contradictory and deserves separate lectures in general. If there had not been the Munich Agreement in 1938, where France and Britain played a significant role together with Hitler in the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, there would definitely have been no Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. However, according to the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Bessarabia again went to the Soviet Union, Soviet Russia. What did the Soviet leaders do then? They annexed Bessarabia to the MASSR. It was not we who came there, but annexed their Bessarabia to us, creating the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic – MSSR. We were part of the Soviet Union. This is a fundamental question. We didn’t come, but Bessarabia was annexed to us, to the MASSR. It is important.
The Great Patriotic War came later - the bloodiest, most tragic war in the history of mankind. The Soviet Union was opposed by the Axis states - by and large, all the states of Europe. The liberation of Pridnestrovie began as a result of successful operations in 1944. These are the Uman-Botoshan, Odessa and Iasi-Chisinau operations. What did the Nazis leave us on our land? Concentration camps, ghettos, thousands of executed people.
I want to focus on a very important point. Please, listen carefully. You may hear us called "Transnistria". I’ll say right away: for us this is an offensive term, unacceptable for Pridnestrovie. We are Pridnestrovie, not “Transnistria”. Why? I'll explain. When Pridnestrovie was occupied by fascist Germany and fascist Romania, it was the occupying forces who came up with the term “Transnistria” - the territory beyond the Dniester. Concentration camps and ghettos were created under this guise, and about 800 thousand people died throughout the entire territory of the so-called “Transnistria” (including the Odessa region), according to various sources. 20 thousand people of Jewish, and not only nationality were shot in Dubossary. Therefore, the term “Transnistria” for us is occupation, it is fascism and an insult to the Pridnestrovian people. I always demand that they call us not “Transnistria”, but Pridnestrovie when I meet with various Western diplomats. Transnistria, fascism, extermination, ghettos, concentration camps are synonymous words.
The Moldavian SSR received powerful development within the Soviet Union then. The Soviet Union invested huge amounts of money here and rebuilt the Moldavian SSR. Plants, factories, schools, kindergartens, sports, cultural, everyday life facilities were built. The perestroika began - the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was perestroika that brought nationalists to power in all the union republics. It happened. You know, I’ve already said it many times and I’ll tell you. Thank God, you didn’t find this time and, God forbid you ever get over it. There are people of different generations here. When your mobile phone goes missing, it is very unpleasant. When your wallet with money is yanked, this is also not good. When your car is stolen, it’s also bad, also unpleasant. But when your homeland was stolen from you, it’s a disaster, a tragedy. Do you understand? These leaders of the Soviet Union stole our Motherland from us. The entire population of the Soviet Union suffered a colossal moral blow. The tragic 90s are a consequence, a moral, intellectual decline, a consequence of the psychological breakdown of the entire former Soviet people. We went through this time. It wasn't easy.
Let's return to our history, to our land. There were sprouts of nationalism in Moldova. August 31, 1989. The Parliament of Moldova adopted two years before the collapse of the Soviet Union a language law – on the Romanian language in the Latin alphabet. That is, the multinational people of Moldova and Pridnestrovie are being deprived of the right to speak their native languages – Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Jewish, German, whatever, leaving only Romanian. Well, it was their decision. Of course, this decision caused a massive protest among the population of Pridnestrovie. United Strike Committee was created, working committees gather, demonstrations are held. We show Chisinau our reluctance to speak Romanian. They don't hear us. Moreover, the Parliament of Moldova adopted the so-called Declaration of the Sovereignty of Moldova from the Soviet Union on June 23, 1990. Please attend! This declaration declared the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact void and declared the creation of the Moldavian SSR illegal. That is, legally Moldova abandoned us. It was not in vain that I told you that Bessarabia was annexed to us, and the Moldavian SSR was created. The Parliament of Moldova – the highest legislative body – made a legal decision on the illegality of the creation of the Moldavian SSR. In fact, Chisinau is abandoning Tiraspol. This decision was confirmed by the Declaration of Independence of August 27, 1991. This is the main document of Moldova. There is a decision of the Constitutional Court, according to which the legal force of the Declaration of Independence is superior to the Constitution of a given state. This declaration confirmed the illegality of the creation of the Moldavian SSR. That's the first. Moldova has committed itself to eliminating the direct consequences of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. That's the second. One language was introduced – Romanian. That's the third. What could we, Pridnestrovians, do? It should be noted that the central authorities of Chisinau behaved poorly towards the Pridnestrovians. The first thing the Pridnestrovians felt at that moment was the lack of legal protection. Please imagine, people were killed here - deputies of the Supreme Council of the Moldavian SSR, other officials, and the law enforcement agencies of Moldova did not take applications for consideration regarding the murders. Can you imagine this? Of course, you can not in a normal state. In fact, the residents of Pridnestrovie were removed from the human rights protection of Moldova and Chisinau. This is the first. The second: only the Romanian language was implanted, ignoring all other languages, cultures, etc. The third: enormous economic pressure was exerted on Pridnestrovie, on the left bank. And the fourth: war, of course. The first leaders, the first deputies who created the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, faced a challenge in these conditions. People had to be protected. It was necessary to create something that would protect people – their rights, freedom, economy, culture, nationalities, etc. There was only one way out – the state creation. Only the state, through certain mechanisms, can ensure this, and nothing else. Therefore, the creation of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic was a historical necessity, it was a way to protect people, to protect the Pridnestrovian people. This is also a fact. The First Congress of Deputies of all levels took place in Parkany on June 20, 1990, where the first documents for the economic development of this region, Pridnestrovie, were adopted, and a coordination council was elected. The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic as part of the USSR was proclaimed unanimously at the II Congress of Deputies of all levels on September 2, 1990. The Soviet Union still existed. Thus, we did not leave the Soviet Union. We did not leave Moldova. We have never been to Moldova. The Moldovan parliament divided the unified republic of the Moldavian SSR into two entities – Moldova and Pridnestrovie prior to this. We are not separatists. The separatists are the ones who made the decision in Chisinau. This is a historical fact, and it is difficult to argue with it. By the way, a referendum on the independence of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic took place in Pridnestrovie on the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union in fact exactly 32 years ago, on December 1, 1991. In general, seven referendums took place on our territory. We discuss all important issues with people. As the people decide, we do so. Only the people are the bearer of the sovereignty of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Moldova realized its mistake, of course. They realized that they had caused a disaster with their decisions, and tried to correct it with force and blood, but not with their own blood, as they thought, but with the blood of the Pridnestrovian people. There were provocations in 1990 and 1991. The main phase of all provocations was 1992. March 1, 1992 – a provocation near the Dubossary militia department, where the chief of militia Captain Sipchenko, and the Cossack Zubkov died. On March 2, also in Dubossary, a special police detachment (OPON) attacked the houses of officers, where the wives and children of officers of the former 14th Army lived. Only the guards were able to repel this attack. Major Voronkov and the guardsmen died in this case. It is important to know how Major Voronkov died. Following the retreating women and children, one of the Moldovan policemen threw a grenade, and Major Voronkov covered the grenade with his chest, thereby saving the lives of the women and children, but he died himself. This is history.
Negotiations, of course, went on. So, the Moldovan parliament made a decision on a peaceful solution to the Pridnestrovian issue on June 18, 1992. I repeat: June 18. The city of Bendery was deblocked. Treacherous invasion of Bendery took place on the evening of June 19. Here are future military people now, here are adult men who served in the army. Do you think it was possible to prepare an invasion in half a day? Of course not. Moreover, not only special forces units, but mobilized forces were introduced into Bendery. Excuse me, this requires a month, two, three to prepare for the invasion. That is, the Moldovan parliament, knowing, definitely knowing that tomorrow there will be an invasion, makes a decision on an allegedly peaceful solution to the Pridnestrovian issue. There was war the next day. June 19, 1992, the tragic date.
Pridnestrovians managed to stand up for themselves. 126 enterprises and about two thousand households were destroyed, 804 residents of Pridnestrovie were killed, 91 people went missing, and about one and a half thousand were injured of varying degrees of severity as a result of the fighting.
Dear young persons! Dear Pridnestrovians! I ask you to honor the memory of the defenders of Pridnestrovie and everyone who died, who died, with a minute of silence... Thank you.
It is very important to note the role of the so-called civilian observers, remembering the 1992 war. There was a civilian mission of observers in the city of Bendery at that moment. This mission scattered, having done absolutely nothing to stop the fighting at the very first shots. Moreover, they subsequently did not even evaluate those events in any of their written reports. Today, the peacekeeping mission, which is carried out here on the banks of the Dniester with the participation of Russian peacekeepers is the most successful, the most correct and the most necessary. Talking about replacing Russian peacekeepers with some kind of civilian mission does not stand up to criticism, taking into consideration our history. History is important to know. History repeats itself.
The peaceful resolution of the Pridnestrovian conflict Agreement was signed in Moscow on July 21, 1992. The peacekeeping mission of the Russian Federation on the banks of the Dniester began with this document in principle. The peacekeepers in the mission are not only Russian, but also Pridnestrovian and Moldovan. There have been no hostilities here, and we remain at peace over the past period of time – from 1992 to the present day.
I have come to what is probably the most important thing in my report – the people, the Pridnestrovian people. Let us think about what shapes a people, based on what I have said. People are formed by language, literature, history, traditions, customs, and so on. This all creates values. Values shape people. It's clear.
Who lives in Pridnestrovie? Moldovans only? No. Russians only? No. Ukrainians? No. We have a multinational Pridnestrovian people who were created by Catherine II and have survived to this day. It has changed and become multifaceted, of course. Let's think about what is happening in modern Moldova. The only language is Romanian in modern Moldova, the History is Romanian. Literature is Romanian. Everything is Romanian. Consequently, all these positions form the new Romanian Bessarabian people. What is the most alarming, what is the most catastrophic thing in this whole story? The disaster is that there is a place for everyone in the new Bessarabian Romanian people: Russians, Ukrainians, Jews, Poles, Germans - everyone, but there is no place for Moldovans. They are not there. It cannot be. There is such a register of languages, called ISO, you will find it on the Internet if you are interested. Languages from all over the world are listed there. There are even languages of some villages in the Caucasus, spoken by 50 people. The Moldovan language was deleted from that register, leaving only Romanian. It is a fact.
We can rightly say that the history of the last thirty years has created two new peoples: the new Bessarabian Romanian and Pridnestrovian. This is history, no matter what anyone says.
What today? We are going through difficult times today, of course. There is fighting all around us. There's no escape. There are few prospects today, but our task, the task of the leadership of Pridnestrovie, the entire Pridnestrovian people, is to maintain peace on Pridnestrovian land, to continue the negotiation process, which is now stagnant, at a dead end. We work despite all the difficulties, we develop, develop the economy, fulfill social obligations, live in our Pridnestrovie.
Pridnestrovie lives and develops in accordance with the Development Strategy of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic today, approved by Presidential Decree of December 12, 2018 and designed for the period of validity of 2019-2026, that is, for 8 years. I outlined that in addition to the tasks assigned to Government and administrative bodies, there are three basic principles of life in Pridnestrovie. These are political stability, economic self-sufficiency and social justice. This document in addition spells out our state idea – state, not national. An idea cannot be called national in a multinational state. The state idea. Its first point is strengthening the independence of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and further gaining recognition. The second point is the continuation of the formation of the “Pridnestrovian people” community, developing languages, traditions, ethnic groups and so on. The third point is building a socially oriented state with a market form of the economy. Everything is very simple, clear and to the point.
Dear students, I almost kept the schedule of academic hour. I gave only the basis, so that, having heard me, you would become interested further, find on the Internet, not only playing or corresponding with each other, but so that you would also become interested in history. There are actually a lot of interesting things there. Please, go to the library. Everything is very interesting. I advise you. I say again that Pridnestrovie is multifaceted. The statehood of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic is 33 years old. It is important to know history, honor your ancestors, and make plans for the future.
I am convinced that the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic will be recognized by the world community. I assure you, we have every legal basis for this. Not a single state that received its recognition, even close to Pridnestrovie, stood in terms of the number of foundations, which we have today. This is also a fact. Therefore, be proud of Pridnestrovie, love Pridnestrovie. Of course, I wish you all health and peace. Peace to my native land. Thanks a lot.