Because some Russians joining Russia would be a concern.

Why not. It seems Putin views all these areas as little sudetenlands

Well, that's what those people want to be, right?

ILN: In this case it wasn't population transfers, actually.

Fasces349: Very old news, but impossible. they are a sliver of land between Moldova and Ukraine that doesn't reach the Black Sea. Plus, their stability is based on being supported by both Moscow and Kiev since Ukrainians and Russians are the dominant ethnicity only if taken together.

They've wanted to leave Moldova for the last 20 years, its only been the last 3 days that they've wanted to join Russia.

Transnistria does not border onto Russia so a Crimea-style annexation would be much more difficult, and as a exclave the territory would be more difficult for Russia to administer.

Plus there's presumably a lot less for Russia to gain here - part of Russia's interest in Crimea is related to having naval access to the Black Sea - there's no such strategic benefit to annexing Transnistria.

@JECE, actually, yes it was. The local Romanian speaking population was deported, to places such as Siberia or Kazakhstan, and Russians were moved in.

The area was inhabited since antiquity by Thracian* (not Slavic) people, even the Romans at one point had a presence there. *As you may or may not know, the ancestors of the Romanian people are the Dacians (Thracian people) and the Romans. Even the names of cities and such in transnistria bear 'Russianized' Romanian names. Yes, the population there being Russian is ENTIRELY due to population transfers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BASARABIA_ETNIC.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Harta_etnica_a_Republicii_Moldova_-_2004.jpg

Also, annexing, as said Jamie, is of 0 strategic importance to Russia, ruining its ties with it's neighbour Romania (which wants to regain Moldova) would be a terrible move (they're already not the best anyways).

Imo, let those fucktards leave, one less problem for Moldova.

ILN: Ha ha, you really don't know what you're talking about.

Take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BASARABIA_ETNIC.png again. Colored is the geographical region of Bessarabia, which in the Interwar period was annexed by Romania. The red outline is modern Moldova, as recognized internationally. In white (within the red outline yet uncolored) is a region beyond the Dniester River that is almost exactly the territorial extent of Transnistria/Pridnestrovie.

ILN: If you want good maps about the area throughout history (since you insist on going back to the Thracians and Dacians), click on the read hyperlinks here:
http://www.conflicts.rem33.com/images/moldova/mol_geschichte.htm

I wrote a paper on Transnistria/Pridnestrovie a little over a year ago. I could copy and paste parts of it here if you like.

'red hyperlinks', not "read hyperlinks"

Hmm. Perhaps I was wrong.... (I found the links interesting really, thanks!)

It seems that the Dniester river acted like boundary between the Romanians and Slavs, thereby making the northern part (Transistria) non-Romanian. Although, the resource also said that Transistria, even before World War I (and thus before the Soviet population transfers) was "partially inhabited by ethnic Moldavians/Romanians", and that in 1922 30% of the population was Romanian.

So while west of the river, where Romanians were the majority, east of it, the majority were slavs with a considerable (30%) Romanain minority.
What I said about Romanians being deported from Transnistria still stands though, quoting the link you sent me "ethnic Russians and Ukrainians were encouraged to immigrate to the Moldavian SSR, especially to Transnistria."

*especially to Transnistria.*

Fuck I don't have the habit of rereading my posts..... The grammar mistakes make me cringe.

ILN: It may be the case that Russians/Ukrainians were encouraged to immigrate to the Moldavian SSR. Yet the opposite was encouraged for the Moldavian ASSR (which was confined to the left bank of the Dniester, i. e., Transnistria), when Moldovans/Romanians were encouraged to immigrate there in a way to justify Soviet claims to Bessarabia by building Moldovan (as opposed to Romanian) identity.

I don't know what you are talking about with deportations. Transnistria is still ⅓ Moldovan, ⅓ Russian and ⅓ Ukrainian.

Fasces349: Uh, no. They've asked to join the Russian Federation before and Russia has refused. They even asked to just join Russia's prized Customs Union in 2012 and Russia preferred to use the request as leverage to try and get Moldova to join (which of course didn't happen either).

Fasces349: See here for the latter claim:
https://web.archive.org/web/20130318132921/http://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/eastweek/2012-11-28/transnistria-formalises-a-prorussian-turn-foreign-policy

ILN: "Also, annexing, as said Jamie, is of 0 strategic importance to Russia, ruining its ties with it's neighbour Romania (which wants to regain Moldova) would be a terrible move (they're already not the best anyways)."

I don't know if this was directed at me. I already said it wasn't going to happen since "they are a sliver of land between Moldova and Ukraine that doesn't reach the Black Sea. Plus, their stability is based on being supported by both Moscow and Kiev since Ukrainians and Russians are the dominant ethnicity only if taken together." And can't the rest of Moldova join Romania without Transnistria?

@ JECE: "And can't the rest of Moldova join Romania without Transnistria?"

Not easily. Moldova claims that Transnistria is still part of its territory. Any territorial agreement between, or involving, Moldova and Romania would therefore need to be clear about what definition of the territory of "Moldova" it was using.

(AND, if it came to pass that such an agreement were to explicitly *exclude* the Transnistria region, those favouring Transnistrian independence / separatism would of course use that as evidence of the Moldovan claim to the territory being abandoned)

Jamiet99uk: Yes, I know it wouldn't be easy. I in fact don't think it will happen at all, at least not anytime soon. I was just responding to "ruining its ties with it's neighbour Romania (which wants to regain Moldova) would be a terrible move", which didn't make any sense to me.

But Transnistria already claims that Moldova has renounced its claims to the territory. The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was declared “null and void ab initio” in the Moldovan declaration of independence. It was only as a result of that Pact that both Bessarabia and the Moldavian ASSR were split between the Ukrainian SSR and the Moldavian SSR. Hence, from the Transnistrian point of view, Moldova disassociated itself over two decades ago from the section of the Moldavian ASSR (i. e., Transnistria) assigned to the Moldavian SSR in 1940.

For the Moldovan declaration of independence, see:
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/moldova/md_appnd.html for the declaration of independence

The Transnistrian interpretation of the Moldovan declaration of independence can be found here:
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20120517122827%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.community-dpr.org%2Fabout_country%2Fpmr.php&act=url

Guess I scared everyone off . . .

Lol no. I've just been really busy. Il make some time later on to look at your resources :)

I heard today that Transdniester isn't technically part of Moldova. In fact, there is still a cease fire and cold war going on. And the interviews I heard indicated most of the population wanted to be Russian.

they are technically part of Moldova... just defacto independent.

They are as much part of Moldova as the Confederacy was part of the Union. If the south hadn't surrendered and a cease fire had been put in place, the Confederacy would still exist. Seems this is the state of Moldova and Transdniester.

I know it is Wikipedia, but this makes it clear as mud. :=)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria

Draugnar: Well, I don't know about a Cold War. Moldova refuses to even set up customs posts on its border with Transnistria. The two sides are evenly matched militarily, though.