Conflictul din Transnistria. Motivațiile și oportunitățile minorităților rusofone
The Transnistria Conflict. The Motivations and Opportunities of Russian-speaking Minorities

Summary/Abstract: This paper explores the motivations and opportunities of the Russian-speakers from Transnistria within the context of Transnistrian civil war, and their effects on the escalation of a violent rebellion. Using primarly the calitative methods of analysing, I document that the cultural discrimination was one of the most acute reasons for the russian-speaking ethnics from the left bank of the Dniester to fight. This motivation was catalysed due to making Romanian the only official language of the new Moldovan state, which was rapidly percepted by Slavs as a big threat to their freedom. Moreover, by analysing Transnistrian settlement patterns and the mechanism of opportunity, the paper proves the way spatial proximity among the concentrated majority of Russian-speakers from Transnistria favored the choice of violent rebellion to gain material benefits for them. The study also suggests that the severity of the opportunity mechanism was enhanced by the imposing military arsenal left by the 14th Soviet Army after the collapse of the U.S.S.R., which ensured an important instrument to win a secession alongside the direct support of Russia.

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