The director of the Tiraspol Theoretical Lyceum “Lucian Blaga” Ion Iovcev is waiting for new challenges on the part of the Transnistrian administration after he didn’t present himself at the so-called state inspectorate in Tiraspol for hearings on December 12, following a petition concerning deductions from salaries and pressure exerted by the lyceum’s administration on the teaching staff.

Ion Iovcev has told IPN that on December 11 he had a meeting with Deputy Minister of Education Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei and Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Eugen Carpov. As a result, the Moldovan authorities sent a letter to the Transnistrian authorities and representatives of the Transnistrian conflict settlement talks in the 5+2 format, where it is said that the director of “Lucian Blaga” Lyceum is not obliged to and will not present himself at the hearings.

“The Tiraspol Lyceum “Lucian Blaga” is managed by the Ministry of Education of Moldova and I obey directly the Ministry. We can expect anything from the Transnistrian administration because I didn’t present myself for hearings. In an uncontrolled and unrecognized area, you can expect anything,” stated Ion Iovcev.

According to him, the teacher who is said to have filed the complaint informed the Transnistrian Prosecutor’s Office that she is not the author of the letter and the signature wasn’t her.

On December 5, representatives of the Transnistrian law enforcement bodies searched offices of the Theoretical Lyceum “Lucian Blaga” and questioned the principal. The prosecutors told the director to present documents concerning the school’s activity, but he refused. Before leavening, the prosecutors wrote down the home addresses of the staff.

In the Transnistrian region, there are eight Moldovan-administered, Romanian-language lyceums. The Transnistrian law enforcement bodies searched a number of them, banning the staff from hoisting Moldova’s flag and from playing the national anthem at festivities.