The first time the cadet went somewhere that does not legally exist

A couple of years ago, I was having a major mental block when it came to writing and doing research for my master’s thesis that I should have completed months before. I would get to something cool, then discover it was useless, or another exhaustive study was already done. I would also lose focus and decide to watch a series of documentaries about something completely unrelated or make some stupid excuse to do something else. I was sick of this scattered, chaotic mess of papers and books on my desk. I also had 10 half-read books on my kindle. Let’s just say that I was having a bit of information overload and making any type of progress wasn’t happening.

It was winter in Prague, and the overall winter depression settled into the city. As much as I adore this town, winter can be a bore here. It was not an awful record-setting winter, but not a terribly mild one compared to the year before. Prague winters are not the same level as Finland or Yukon Territory, but not always pleasant. The clouds can cover the sun for weeks. The snow melts and just turns into slush and ice. People somehow think that lousy winter weather exempts them from picking up their dog excrement, so the risk of stepping on one of those “shitsicles” and falling on your ass becomes more prevalent. People also can be quite irritable at that time of year. If you leave for and return from work when it is dark, it can lower the cheer factor. Many people like to cope by going to their local pubs, which can often end with them inflicting their pissy demeanor on everyone else. Others take a more cheery route and do pleasant winter activities in the countryside on weekends. Admittedly I could do that, but that often requires too much organization and waking up at the crack of dawn. Disgruntled and too bothered to do anything productive, I decided to tune out and take a small break.

My thesis topic was about “De facto states within the former CIS,” so I planned myself a couple of field trips. I needed the change of scenery and thought this could help me gain more a personal perspective for my research, so I thought this idea was a win-win. I originally planned two trips. The first one being to the Republic of Abkhazia. The second one being to the Pridnestrovian Republic of Moldova, which is more commonly known as Transnistria. I had to put the first trip on hold because the logistics were too complicated at the time to work around. Transnistria was more comfortable to manage, so I decided to go ahead and pursue that one first.

After summoning “the cheap flight fairy,” I found my way of getting to Transnistria. The simplest way would have been to book Prague-Odessa or Prague-Chisinau and take a bus from either city. Eh, nope! Prague didn’t have a direct flight from either at the time I was looking. The flight options that I found out of Prague were over 200-250 euros. That was entirely out of my price range. There was the option to take the bus, but I was definitely not doing that either. So I dug a bit deeper and found another way. (Thanks, Wizz air!) I decided to book a Nuremberg-Bucharest flight for 10 euros to get there. I could take a blah blah car ride or bus to Moldova and a marshrutka to Transnistria. For the return, I booked for a flight from Chisinau to Milan for 20 euros and a Milan- Prague flight for 10 euros. It certainly wasn’t the most ideal, concise, or comfortable plan, but that was what I found. I sometimes like to make little challenges to myself about how can I get to somewhere spending the least amount of money possible. It might have been something that I have picked up from other friends I know from traveling. They often like to make these challenges. It can turn into a little contest. “ Oh, I paid 30 euros to get here by this airline from x” or “Come on, I spent 19 euros on this airline ” or “I managed to hitchhike there for free.” I sometimes used to sit there and think,” Wow, and I thought my 130 euro round trip to here was a good deal”. Eventually, I sort of learned how to fish better for cheap flights, which have often resulted in some exciting routes.

These “alternative routes” can be fun and sometimes weirdly make sense. Besides, a day or two in Romania isn’t exactly a punishment. I had never been to Bucharest or anywhere in Romania for that matter. I also have a friend that lives there, so it would be nice to see her again. Romania also plays a role in the situation with Transnistria as well. It would be nice to gain some insight from the Romanian, Moldovan, and Transnistrian perspectives. So one morning, I woke up and jumped on a 3.5-hour bus ride to Nuremberg to catch a 1.5-hour flight that was going the opposite direction.

Now you are probably wondering….. “Where is Transnistria?” or you are one of my know it all friends and know everything about it. I’ll give a brief country profile anyway. Transnistria is a separatist region of the Republic of Moldova. It is situated in the middle of Moldova and Ukraine. What makes Transnistria different from many other separatist regions is that Transnistria is labeled as a de facto state. This means that is has given itself the authority as a real state, but isn’t legal. Transnistria and other de-facto countries often have met other qualifications of being a state with the exception that it doesn’t have formal recognition. It has the Dniester river to serve as a natural border with Moldova. It has it’s own “government,” constitution, national flag, passport, and even has its own currency.

However, it is not formally recognized by any sovereign nation in the world. It is still legally a part of Moldova to the international community. The passport and currency have no value outside of Transnistria. Nearly every single person in Transnistria has at least one other or two other passports. There are some cases where some have up to four passports. The ethnic make-up is almost equally 1/3 Moldovan, 1/3 Ukrainian, 1/3 Russian.
Transnistria didn’t waste any time with splitting from Moldova after Moldova declared it’s independence and broke away from the Soviet Union. Many of the ethnic Ukrainian and Russians minorities in Moldova feared the possibility of Moldova reuniting with Romania. There was also the whole Cyrillic vs. Latin alphabet and official language issue. Some cite that their difference with Moldova was ideological and not ethnic. They preferred life under the Soviet Union and didn’t want to be part of this new Moldova. The list goes on, and debates go on. They fought a civil war in 1992, which ended in a ceasefire. The Moldovan-Transnistrian conflict has remained frozen, and the status quo still stands.

While Transnistria is not recognized officially by Russia, it is mostly supported economically and militarily by them. Nearly every industry is monopolized by some kind of Russian elite. Many in Moldova and other places have criticized and accused Russia of using this frozen conflict as a way to keep influence in this region and to delay Moldova from becoming integrated into NATO and the EU. Much of the Russian side claims they are just helping to keep the peace or protecting the interest of the Russian nationals living within Transnistria. There are several other arguments on all sides. Yet, neither party seems to feel like escalating a heated conflict over Transnistria. Moldova has its own political issues. Moldova itself is divided between wanting to align more with Russia or move towards EU integration. Russia has not wanted to alienate Moldova too much as it wants it to join the competing Eurasian Economic union. It has been easier to keep things the way they are. Following the annexation of Crimea, there has been widespread speculation that Transnistria could be annexed next. But I’m not opening that can of worms just yet!