International recognition of Transnistria

International recognition of Transnistria (also known as Pridnestrovie) – a disputed region in Eastern Europe located between Moldova and Ukraine – is controversial. Although Transnistria declared independence in 1990, no United Nations member recognises its sovereignty and the region is considered by the UN to be part of Moldova. As of 2011, only Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and South Ossetia recognise its independence, all themselves states with limited recognition. Despite not officially recognizing Transnistria's independence, Russia has established a consulate in the disputed territory.

In 1990, a Pridnestrovian Moldavian SSR (PMR) was proclaimed in the region by a number of conservative local Soviet officials opposed to perestroika. This action was immediately declared void by the then president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova, including Transnistria, became independent. The PMR side said Moldova's declaration of independence was ill-conceived and that it considers the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact to be null and void. The PMR side argues that if this is so, then the Moldovans themselves had agreed to relinquish Transnistria, as this territory never belonged to Moldova, nor to Romania before the signing of the agreement between the USSR and Germany.

During the 1992 War of Transnistria some villages changed hands between the PMR government and Moldova proper. PMR forces have often clashed with Moldova's representatives.

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