Self-determination is the concept that, in the words of
United States president
Woodrow Wilson, No people must be forced under a sovereignty under which it does not wish to live. Transnistria argues that since the majority of today's countries were founded on the principle of
self-determination, they too have this moral right.
Transnistria's separate history from Moldova refers to the fact that Transnistria has no historical ties with
Moldova and that it was never at any time in
its history part of an independent Moldovan state. Traditionally, the
Dniester river formed an international border between the two. Transnistria therefore argues that Moldova's claim to Transnistria is not supported by history.
Actual distinctiveness demonstrates that Transnistria has few things in common with Moldova. The majority (61.2% as of 2005[1]) in Transnistria are
Slavs who speak
Russian and
Ukrainian in contrast to Moldova where most of the population are ethnic
Moldovans and speak
Moldovan. The two also differ in alphabets, religions, economies, etc.
Reversal of Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact is the legal argument that the only tie between Moldova and Transnistria was the forced 1940-annexation by the
USSR after the outbreak of
World War II, but that this annexation was declared null and void by Moldova itself with its 1990 reversal of the legal effects of the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. This, argues Transnistria, also voids any claim to territory obtained as a result of the pact as the result of the legal principle of status quo ante bellum.