MADELEINE BRAND, host:
We turn now to a self-declared country that no government in the world formally recognizes and few people have even heard of.
ALEX CHADWICK, host:
It's Transdneister. Transdneister. A little spot of heaven between Ukraine and Moldova, close to the Black Sea. About half a million people live there.
BRAND: And they want to join Russia, even though Russia is more than 600 miles away. NPR's Emily Harris went to explore.
EMILY HARRIS: Transdneister has been a bit out of sync from the beginning. It was once a part of the former Soviet Republic of Moldova. But in 1991, as the Soviet Union was collapsing, Transdneister voted to join the USSR. Fifteen years later, it's still trying.
Mr. IGOR BURIAK(ph) (Survey Taker): (Speaking foreign language)
HARRIS: A few days before the referendum on continuing to pursue unification with Russia, 18-year-old Igor Buriak surveyed potential voters for a government youth organization. He asked people on the street if they planned to vote, then ran through a series of politically loaded questions, including: Are you aware that peace in Transdneister is secured by Russia, that Russia pays salaries and pensions in Transdneister and supports Transdneister internationally?
Ninety-year-old Anya Palli(ph) knew all that, and she knew very well how she was going to vote: yes for Russia.
Ms. ANYA PALLI (Transdneister Resident): (Through translator) I like it that way. I want it that way. I don't need a reason if I am more than certain that 100 percent of people have the same opinion: yes, yes and only yes.
HARRIS: Not quite everyone. Only 97.1 percent of voters supported uniting with Russia. One young man who voted no wanted to meet in a park. He asked not to give his name because he feared persecution for his views.
Unidentified Man (Transdneister Resident): Here it's MGB. It's like KGB in the former Soviet Union. They try to catch anybody who says something against Transdneister. I don't feel free about this, about what I'm saying, because it's dangerous here.
HARRIS: He says he's been detained the previous times he's met with Americans. But this is not quite the USSR. Transdneisterians are free to travel, if they have a passport from a recognized country. Many Transdneister residents cross the internal border with Moldova regularly. They have to show documents and open their trunks for inspection.
(Soundbite of checkpoint)
HARRIS: But guards are selective. Over the past decade, Transdneister has gained a reputation as a black hole of smuggling. The biggest moneymaker appears to be...
Mr. ANTI HARTIKINAN(ph): Chicken meat.
HARRIS: That's right, chicken meat. Anti Hartikinan is deputy head of a European Union mission to help Moldova and Ukraine crack down on smuggling through Transdneister.
Mr. HARTIKINAN: It's coming from the United States, partly, and partly from Europe. When they first fully legally import the chicken meat to Transdneister, then later on they smuggled it to Ukraine and Moldova, and this way they make profit.
HARRIS: No one is quite sure where that money is going, but most observers suspect that powerful people are getting rich in Transdneister, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia, and that those money interests are part of why this strange status quo drags on.
The other reason is geopolitical. Twelve hundred Russian troops are still stationed in Transdneister. Moscow says they're there to keep to the peace. But despite Russia's military, political and economic support, it has not recognized Transdneister as a country. Western diplomats say Moscow is maintaining its influence where it can while keeping its options open.
Twenty-one-year-old Nadia Gelev(ph) says she wants close ties with Russia because it helped Transdneister in the brief but intense fighting with Moldova in 1992.
Ms. NADIA GELEV (Transdneister Resident): But I remember that I was very young and that there was war and that my father took part in this war and that we were afraid that our house would be burned, and we were afraid for his life. And probably this is the only reason that I dislike Moldova at all.
HARRIS: Transdneister authorities claim that after more than 14 years of separation from Moldova, there's a new identity emerging of a Transdneisterian people.
(Soundbite of rally)
HARRIS: At the end of a rally before the referendum, little girls in white and pink outfits sang a song about that. We are children of Transdneister, they sang, building a country tomorrow.
(Soundbite of song)
HARRIS: Emily Harris, NPR News, Transdneister. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
