For more than seven years, I’ve been proudly telling the world that I’m the king of all Romanians.

Today, I had to laugh at the press statement released by Vadim Krasnoselsky, the president of the Nistrian Republic.

My translation:

In an interview given to the Russian news publication Izvestia, Krasnoselski declared that, ‘If it wasn’t for us, there wouldn’t be any Moldovans left. In fact, I’m the president of all Moldovans.’

Heyyyyo!

But wait, there’s more.

Our country’s name is the Moldovan Nistrian Republic. And it’s right here in the MNR where we work to preserve the Moldovan ethnicity as well as the Moldovan language.

In regards to everything related to the Moldovan language and identity, if it wasn’t for us, Moldovans would be wiped off the map. Putting pressure on the language is a mistake. Oh well, that’s [Chisinau’s] mistake to make.

Well, I have no idea how sincere he is, but on a completely rational level, he’s completely right.

The MNR is functioning like a living history museum, preserving one of the oldest forms of the Moldovan/Romanian language.

Don’t Be Afraid of Vadim

Since so many people have a tendency to get scared shitless every time the name “Transnistria” comes up, I thought it’d be worth taking a moment to slow things down a bit.

Let me present you the guy behind the suit.

This is the “scary bad guy” who is running Transnistria along with his wife and their two youngest children:

Seriously, look at this picture.

Vadim is dressed extremely professionally, right down to the lapel pin. Every hair is groomed and in place. Yet, what is he doing? He’s staring off at the horizon.

Meanwhile, his wife Svetlana is looking in a completely different direction. Not only that, but she’s got a kind of resigned, frustrated look on her face.

The eldest daughter is the only one looking at the camera.

The youngest daughter is clutching the city flag of Tiraspol (the Nistrian capital). Meanwhile, her dad has one hand on one shoulder and the other hand gripping her left hand in a very unnatural way.

And then where was this photo taken?

In some ugly park.

Why in the world are you posing there? Was there not a single other place in the city to stand in front of?

And why was it posted online?

Photoshop

The more I looked at the photo, the more sure I became that Adevarul had photoshopped it. After all, they were the only source that I could find for the photo.

Except then I remembered that Google doesn’t index Russian sites anymore. It took me a while, but eventually, I found the photographer who snapped Vadim and his family was Irina Lyahova.

In other words, it’s a genuine image.

So, can you calm down now about this guy? Good.

Because things are doing all right.

Here’s a much better photo of Vadim and his wife, this one taken by a British photographer.

AND NOW YOU KNOW!