Stalinist enclave threatens Moldova civil war
Socialist Outlook newspaper1990sPaul ClarkeTranscribed or corrected by hand from the printed page.
After the ousting of Georgian president Gamsakhurdia, a new civil war is threatened in the republics of the ex-USSR. A 'creeping putsch' is taking place in eastern Moldova (formerly Moldavia), in the five administrative districts around the city of Tiraspol – the so-called Left Bank of the river Dniester.
In this predominantly Russian-speaking area local militias and army units have seized government buildings and proclaimed the existence of a 'Dniester Republic'.
The Dniester Republic leaders proclaim their adherence to old-style Soviet communism. Local reports say they have wide popular support. Mass rallies have been held in the Lenin Square in Tiraspol to oppose privatisation of industry and demand the maintenance of the USSR.
Coup
The attempted August 1991 coup in the USSR was enthusiastically supported by CP leaders and military officials in eastern Moldova. The area is heavily militarised, a centre for many army units and arms production factories.
The moves towards setting up a Dniester Repblic started in September 1990 when Moldovan leaders in the capital Chisinau expressed their support for independence. Communist leaders in Tiraspol accused Moldovan nationalists of 'dismantling socialism' and 'liquidating Soviet power'.
Armed workers
In response the Dniester leaders organised workers armed detachments based on the factories to fight against independence. These workers' units have since become a fully fledged 'Republican Guard', led by professional officers.
In the wake of the defeated neo-Stalinist coup, the Dniester communist leaders began a process of taking over government buildings, using armed 'workers detachments'.
In December they extended their actions to Bendery, a town on the right bank of the Dniester, in an attempt to extend the boundaries of their 'republic'.
In the south Moldovan area of Gaguaz, power has also been seized by Stalinist forces, and it seems likely that the two areas will attempt to link up, thus effectively seizing a swathe of southern and eastern Moldovan territory.
Units from the Fourteenth Army have increasingly weighed in to give support to the Republican Guard.
The Stalinist enclave in Moldova has become a focal point of support from neo-Stalinist and Russian nationalist forces throughout the ex-USSR.
Units of the notorious OMON internal security police are reported to have gone there from the Baltic states to fight with the Republican Guard. Extreme Russian nationalist forces have promised volunteer brigades to fight for the Dniester republic.
Cautious
The Moldovan government has been extremely cautious about a direct military confrontation with the Dniester rebels. However, the growing geographical spread of the enclave makes a direct confrontation almost inevitable.
The Dniester area backs directly on to the southern Ukraine, constituting an obvious threat to stability in the newly-independent republic. The Dniester forces could thus be effectively trapped in a pincer movement if a military conflict starts.