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Impact of Depopulation on Political Life and Legitimacy of Unrecognized States (a Case Study of Transnistria)

  • POST-COMMUNIST COUNTRIES: COMPARING DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS
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Abstract—The rapid depopulation that covered vast regions of Central and Eastern Europe has had long-lasting consequences not only for their socioeconomic, but also political development. For unrecognized polities, the ability to retain population became an important criterion for successful competition with the mother state for citizens’ loyalty, the legitimacy of political regimes, and claims to sovereignty. The aim of the study is to identify the impact of depopulation on the socioeconomic situation and political life of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, or Transnistria) in comparison with the Republic of Moldova (RM). On the basis of official statistics, the authors compare the rates, factors, and reasons for population decline in the PMR and RM. The consequences of depopulation typical of Central and Eastern European countries and specific to Transnistria and Moldova are shown. Assessment of migration losses in general for these territories and their individual regions shows that population outflow in Transnistria began earlier and was more intensive than from the Republic of Moldova. In Moldova, depopulation is intensifying the identity crisis and contradictions between Moldovans and supporters of unification with Romania; in the PMR, the instability of political life, uncertainty of the region’s prospects, and an increasing critical attitude towards the authorities.

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  1. National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova. https://statistica.gov.md/category.php?l=ru&idc=103&.

  2. Report on the research work of the Research Laboratory “Regional Studies.” Optimization of the territorial organization of the economy of Transnistria as a factor in ensuring the sustainable development of the republic. Phase II. Model of sustainable development of Transnistria. Tiraspol: Pridnestrovian State University, 2018. 99 s.

  3. Average wages in Q4 2019. National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova. https://statistica.gov.md/newsview.php?l=ru&idc=168&id=6597.

  4. Press release “On wages in the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublika” for December 2019 (excluding small businesses). State Statistics Service of the PMR. http://mer.gospmr.org/ gosudarstvennaya-sluzhba-statistiki/informacziya/o-zarabotnoj-plate-v-pmr/pressvypusko-zarabotnoj-plate-v-pridnestrovskoj-moldavskoj-respublike-za-dekabr-2019-respublike-za-dekabr-2019–bez-subektov-malogo-predprinimatelstva.html.

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Funding

The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 19-17-00232 “Post-Soviet Non-Recognized States: Factors of Viability and Risks for Russia.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119017, Moscow, Russia

    V. A. Kolosov

  2. T.G. Shevchenko Pridnestrovian State University, 3300, Tiraspol, Moldova

    A. V. Crivenco

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  1. V. A. Kolosov
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  2. A. V. Crivenco
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Correspondence to V. A. Kolosov or A. V. Crivenco.

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Kolosov, V.A., Crivenco, A.V. Impact of Depopulation on Political Life and Legitimacy of Unrecognized States (a Case Study of Transnistria). Reg. Res. Russ. 11, 263–272 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970521020064

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