Border Check-Point, the Moldovan Republic of Transnistria

Abstract

This chapter’s object, a check-point controlled by Transnistria, a secessionist, non-recognized entity on the border between Moldova and Ukraine, illustrates the tension between fact and law in international law. This chapter first spells out the historical context of the object’s emergence to get a better understanding of its significance. It also analyses more recent events underlining its importance. It then discusses the function of international recognition in relation with effective control in the concepts of statehood and border. Subsequently, it introduces the concept of legal dependence to analyse the complex relationships between the de facto entity and its parent state. The chapter concludes on a reflection on the check-point as a symbol of legal borderlands between European and Russian approaches and the possibility of societies to shape their destiny despite the weight of history.