04 December 2012

Ria “Novyi Region—Pridnestrov’e [New Region—Transdniestria]”: The Russian Imperial House Hopes that Relations with Transdniestria will continue as before under the New Government

Tiraspol. December 4 (Novyi Region, Alexander Komarov reporting). The Russian Imperial House hopes to resume contacts with Transdniestria, which now has a new government.

As reported by “Novyi Region,” citing sources in the Press Service of the President of the Transdniestrian Republic of Moldova, the relationship between Transdniestria and the Russian Imperial House was the topic of a meeting between President Evgenii Shevchuk and the Director of the Russian Imperial House, Alexander Zakatov.

Zakatov described for President Shevchuk the activities of the Russian Imperial House in the Russian Federation, and also discussed the preparations for the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the House of Romanoff, which will take place in 2013.

According to Zakatov, previously “our interactions concentrated in the social, cultural, and charitable fields of activity.”

“We hope that we can reach new levels of cooperation, and that our work together will become more intensive and serve our common interests: the unity of the people on the basis of love for their country and for its historical values,” Alexander Zakatov said.

In May 2009, the Head of the Imperial House, Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna Romanova, paid an official visit to Transdniestria. During that visit the Grand Duchess took under her patronage the Tiraspol School of Law of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Transdniestrian Republic of Moldova. The Republic also issued postal stamps bearing the likenesses of members of the Imperial House.

Grand Duchess Maria of Russia was born on December 23, 1953, in Madrid. She is the daughter of Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, the granddaughter of Kirill Wladimirovich, who assumed the title of Emperor-in-exile in 1924, and the great-great-granddaughter of Emperor Alexander II. She did her university studies at Oxford University.

Besides Russian, the Grand Duchess speaks English, French, and Spanish fluently, and can speak and read German, Italian, and Arabic. After the death of her father, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, she became the Head of the Russian Imperial House.

She presently lives in Spain. On March 13, 1981, in Madrid, she gave birth to a son, Georgii Mikhailovich. Since the 1990s, the Grand Duchess has frequently visited Russia.

In December 2005, the Grand Duchess filed a motion with the Attorney General of the Russian Federation requesting the rehabilitation of members of the family of the former Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II, who were shot by the Bolsheviks in 1918. The motion was approved three years later.

In her public appearances, she always emphasizes that “I am ready to answer the people’s call, but I do not in any way want to force monarchy on the Russian people against their will.”

On December 22, 2011, the first President of the Transdniestrian Republic of Moldova, Igor Smirnov, signed a presidential decree entitled “Concerning the Status of the Russian Imperial House in the Transdniestrian Republic of Moldova.” In accordance with this decree, the Russian Imperial House was recognized on the territory of the Transdniestrian Republic of Moldova as a unique historical institution without the rights of a juridical person—an institution which advances the patriotic, spiritual and moral education of the citizens of the Transdniestrian Republic of Moldova, and which assists in the preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of the nation, and the traditions of Transdniestrian society.

For more information, see: http://www.nr2.ru/pmr/415044.html