In the process of dialogue between Chisinau and Comrat the European practices of the functioning of territorial autonomies are studied. South Tyrol in Italy and the ¬Aaland Islands in Finland are two examples of genuinely functional autonomies, even though each of them has a distinct history. South Tyrol is located in the border area, in the farthest Northern part of Italy, at the border with Austria and Switzerland.
At present, the extended autonomy of South Tyrol includes a system of “language quotas”, ensuring a proportionate distribution of public positions among Germans and Italians. Moreover, there are guarantees for the linguistic groups to get access to education in their mother tongues, including for Ladin speakers.
Aaland Islands represent an autonomous and demilitarized province of Finland. The region consists of circa 6.500 islands and accounts for a rich history.
At present, the Aaland Island have their own Parliament and Government and Swedish is the only one official language even though Finland is a bilingual state, Finnish and Swedish being both official languages.
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Both the experience of the Aaland Islands and that of the South Tyrol demonstrate that dialogue, delimitation of consequences and searching for compromise are vital for the assurance of a functional autonomy.
The Aaland Islands used to be part of the Swedish kingdom until 1809. There were disputes between Sweden and Finland regarding the Aaland Islands since the inhabitants there are Swedish language speakers willing to turn to their motherland, Sweden. There was no violent conflict in place, however the tensions were sufficient to bring the issue into the attention of the League of Nations.
Susann Simolin, Head of the Institute for Peace from the Aaland Islands
Looking at these two autonomies we may find that successful management allowed creation of conditions for these communities to live peacefully. Provision of new perspectives and experiences for the context of the Republic of Moldova is important for the identification of relevant solutions and, at the same time, to develop the Republic of Moldova as a state.
Zdenka Machnyikova, CMI international legal expert
The autonomous status of South Tyrol dwells on a number of negotiati¬ons which resulted in an autonomy of the South Tyrol there is a constitutional law of 1972 in this regard. That stipulates that the power is shared among the groups living in the South Tyrol.
Elisabeth Alber, Reseach Group Leader Eurac ¬Research, Italy
This material was developed in the framework of the project “Supporting institutionalized and sustainable dialogue on Gagauzia Autonomy”, implemented by CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation and financed by Sweden. The opinions expressed in this material pertain to the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of CMI or of Sweden.