Moldovan Government favors only one religious organization, U.S. State Department repeatedly finds

The International Religious Freedom Report developed by the U.S. Department of State goes on finding that the Moldovan Government preferentially treats a single religious organization, Info-Prim Neo reports. In its 2008 report, the Department of State finds that there is no state religion in Moldova, however the Metropolitan of Chisinau and all Moldova holds a diplomatic passport. The Metropolitan participates as the sole religious figure in some national celebrations and appears regularly on the front pages of newspapers that support the Government. Progovernment television channels regularly show visits of high government officials to MOC churches and monasteries. The report highlights that on November 30, 2007, President Voronin condemned the decision by the Romanian Orthodox Church, of which the Bessarabian Metropolitanate is a part, to reactivate three dioceses in the country to add to the one existing diocese based in Chisinau. Voronin stated that he did not want conflict in the country and threatened to revoke the registration of the BOC. On December 1, 2007, on the progovernment television channel NIT, Voronin stated that the Government would "withdraw" from the 2001 European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling that led to the 2002 registration of the BOC if the BOC insisted on registering new parishes. Speaking in Brussels on January 14, 2008, Voronin denied that he had threatened to revoke the BOC's registration, but he also claimed that its existence could lead to conflict. Following President Voronin's December 2007 criticisms of the BOC, the BOC reported that soon afterward, police or security officers visited most of its priests at home or in church and warned them that they could be punished for "Romanian heresies." Authorities also told BOC priests that leaving the BOC for the MOC would bring many advantages. In January 2008 four Romanian BOC priests were expelled for not having work permits. According to the report, the new law on religion, which took effect on August 17, 2007, affirms the role of the Orthodox Church in the country's history, simplifies registration procedures, and liberalizes the access of religious groups to public places. However, at the end of the period covered by this report, only one unregistered religious group, the Unification Church, obtained legal status through the new registration procedures. After responsibilities for religious registration were transferred from the State Services for Religious Affairs (SSRA) to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) on October 23, 2007, three Muslim groups attempted to register but were unsuccessful. The Government continued to deny registration to some groups. Religious communities, especially Protestants, complained of cumbersome bureaucratic procedures to obtain permission for foreign citizens to live and conduct religious work in the countr . Transnistrian authorities continued to prosecute members of Jehovah's Witnesses for their conscientious objection to military service. The report of the Department of State was published on September 19 and it envisages the situation in most of the countries. The report is to be officially presented to the Moldovan Government. Sources from the Foreign Ministry have told Info-Prim Neo the U.S. Embassy to Chisinau is to notify the ministry verbally and it will inform the Government. Then the Government is to voice its position concerning the issues found in the report and then will attempt to solve them. Foreign Minister Andrei Stratan said at a recent meeting with the assistant of the U.S. Secretary of State, David Kramer, that the Moldovan Government was aware of the 2008 Report and would attend to the issues mentioned in it.