The Moldovan officials openly express their hatred and discrimination against Ukrainians and people of other nationalities living in Moldova. Russophobia has extended and discord is generated in society over nationality and language, considers Fiodor Ghelici, the ambassador and resident representative of the International Organization for Economic Development (IOED) in the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, head of the Regional Office in Moldova for Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine, the official representative of the IOED at the UN in Geneva, the representative of the International Congress for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms “SHELD” in the Republic of Moldova and the representable of the International Union of Diplomats in Moldova.
In a news conference hosted by IPN, Fiodor Ghelici said that discrimination is promoted at the level of the authorities, not of the ordinary people. He furnished the responsible institutions with evidence showing that persons with important posts allowed discrimination against Ukrainians. He presented a case that happened in a courtroom, where a citizen of the Republic of Moldova of Ukrainian nationality was obliged to speak Romanian, but he didn’t know this language. He said that there are many such situations when interpretation is not ensured and the people who go to court have to endure humiliation.
Fiodor Ghelici noted that such discrimination hadn’t been witnessed in Moldova earlier. He addressed the President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu, warning her that interethnic hatred and radicalism are growing actively. He considers things are heating up as it happened in Ukraine and this is worrisome.
According to Fiodor Ghelici, today the politicians from the rostrum declare one thing and speak about reforms, but the reality is different. He transmitted a message from the Ukrainians living in Moldova who wonder why Moldova, after 30 years of independence, does not have schools teaching Ukrainians as they always need to study Russian and are now discriminated on such a ground. The authorities didn’t do anything to stimulate the population to study the official language. In general, the situation in Moldova’s educational sector is deplorable and this led to a rise in the number of specialists with poor qualifications.
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