Vadim Krasnoselsky


Vadim Nikolaevich Krasnoselsky is a Transnistrian politician who is the 3rd and current President of Transnistria. Previously, he served as a member of the Supreme Council of Transnistria from the 7th district, as 6th Speaker of the Supreme Council and the 7th Minister of the Interior.

Biography

Krasnoselsky was born in the Zabaykalsky District of the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. In 1978 his father was transferred to a military base in Bender in the Moldavian SSR. After leaving school in 1987 Krasnoselsky started studying in Odessa, but left during his first year to join a Military Aviation Engineer Higher School in Kharkiv, from which he graduated in 1993. He subsequently joined the Transistrian security forces, later becoming a high-ranking official in the Ministry of the Interior. Vadim took his degree in law at the Pridnestrovian state university in 2002. In 2007 Krasnoselsky became Minister of the Interior, serving until 2012 when he started working in business. He was elected to the Supreme Council in the 2015 elections, and was appointed as the body's Speaker.

Presidency

Supported by the Sheriff conglomerate, he defeated incumbent President Yevgeny Shevchuk in the 2016 presidential elections, receiving 62% of the vote. He was inaugurated on 27 December at the Nadezhda Aronetskaya State Drama Theatre. On 4 January 2017, he received newly-elected Moldovan President Igor Dodon in Bendery, who was the second Moldovan leader to visit the PMR in several years. In September 2018, his first major state visit outside of the PMR was to Sukhumi for Abkhazia's Independence Day celebration. In January 2019, he attended the opening of the PMR representative offices in Moscow, replacing the Cooperation Center "Pridnestrovie". On 29 May, he announced the creation of an international lawsuit against Moldova in which the PMR asks for compensation for "the aggression against the people of Transnistria". In August, he attended a ceremony at the base of the Operational Group of Russian Forces with Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu dedicated the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Moldova in the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive. In late October, he met with President Dodon at his presidential residence in Holercani ahead of the Bavaria Conference, scheduled for 4–5 November.
During his presidency, he revived the traditional New Year balls, in which he takes part with his spouse. In September 2017, he ordered the creation of the Tiraspol Suvorov Military School, the youth cadet school of the Armed Forces of Transnistria.

Views on Transnistrian culture

He has stated that he pursues a policy of returning to the Transnistrian cities their pre-revolutionary flags and emblems due to him considering Soviet-era symbols to be "irrelevant". He had described the Great October Socialist Revolution as a "catastrophe" and referred to Bolsheviks as "traitors" and "usurpers". As a counter to Soviet culture, he had proposed raising the status of notable Imperial Russian leaders such as Generalissimo Alexander Suvorov and Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin.
He has stated that he is a constitutional monarchist, going as far as to say the following during a presidential campaign:
Krasnoselsky has been actively engaged in changing the tourist image of Transnistria, saying that he believes that Transnistria should not be associated with the "fragment of the USSR", a statement which resulted in a monument to Vladimir Lenin being demolished at the Bendery fortress.

Family

His wife, Svetlana Krasnoselskaya, is a philologist, and is also a Russian language teacher. He has one son, Ivan, and two daughters, Genevieve and Sofia.