Members of Transnistrian NGOs intimidated by separatist authorities

Representatives of Transnistrian nongovernmental organizations say the condition that the given NGOs must register with the constitutional authorities of Moldova imposed by the foreign donors is an obstacle to their development, Info-Prim Neo reports. At the Forum of Transnistrian NGOs held on December 12 and 13 in Vadul lui Voda, the Transnistrian activists said that if the NGOs register with the Moldovan authorities they will have to resort to double-entry bookkeeping. They also said the condition that the projects must be presented in Romanian or English is another obstacle. Among organizational problems they mentioned the absence of a resource center in the region, the necessity of accrediting the grants in the Transnistrian banks and the humanitarian aid in the Transnistrian customs. The representatives of the Transnistrian NGOs said the local administration erects such barriers as excessive control, creation of a negative image through the media institutions affiliated to the power, pursuing of the members of the NGOs and of their families by the security bodies. Ludmila Nicolaeva, the head of the Association of the Bulgarian Minority in Transnistria “Rodoliubets”, invoked the lack of solidarity in the NGO sector. She said the Transnistrian NGOs often hinder each other instead of coordinating their actions to solve common problems. Attending the Forum, the Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Matters Victor Osipov said that though the civil society in Transnistria works in difficult conditions, there are rather active NGOs in the region, which shows that the society wants to assert itself and manages to. The representatives of the NGOs identified solutions to a number of problems and agreed to strengthen cooperation with the Transnistrian authorities in modifying the legislation on nongovernmental organizations, develop volunteering, cooperate with NGOs working on the right bank of the Nistru and foreign NGOs, create a resource center for Transnistrian NGOs, which will also provide professional legal advice.