Over two thousand students are learning in the eight schools that teach in Romanian in the Transnistrian region, and their number is increasing. According to a report from the Promo-LEX Association regarding the human rights situation in the region, students, parents, and teachers of these institutions continue to be the target of intimidation and hostile messages from the structures in Tiraspol, reports IPN.

According to Promo-LEX, in the last five years, the number of students in institutions subordinate to the Ministry of Education and Research has increased, including that of allophone children. This trend continues despite the demographic decline in the region, where the number of children under 18 has decreased by approximately 33% in the last decade. However, the demand for enrollment in schools teaching in Romanian exceeds the capacity of some institutions, which are faced with a lack of space and conditions insufficiently adapted to the educational process.

The report also signals pressures on families who choose education in Romanian, especially on parents employed in the subordinate structures of the so-called administration from Tiraspol. At the same time, representatives of the de facto structures in the region launch accusations against these schools, presenting them as politically engaged institutions or accusing them of distorting history and glorifying fascism and Nazism.

In August, Alexandr Stetiuc, the deputy of the so-called foreign minister from Tiraspol, labeled schools as “politically engaged” institutions. Subsequently, the alleged deputy Vadim Cravciuc accused them of distorting history and glorifying fascism and Nazism, while Andrei Safonov, a representative of the de facto structures in the region, described them as potential centers of subversion.

Promo-LEX draws attention to the fact that accusations of promoting Nazism and the rhetoric of “denazification” recall the justifications used by the Russian Federation to launch the large-scale invasion of Ukraine.