Does Moldova face the risk of experiencing the Ukraine scenario – intervention by another state on the pretext of ‘protecting’ the speakers of Russian, Romanian or Moldovan, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Gagauz etc? What should we do for the country’s people to feel at home in Moldova? IPN Agency is producing a series of articles where politicians, experts and representatives of national minorities provide answers to these and other questions.
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In Moldova, there are no preconditions for separatism because there is a common religion with the ethnic minorities. Also, we are bilingual as we speak Romanian and Russian, said Deputy Head of Parliament Andrian Candu. “My perception is that there are only political disagreements, which should be debated within election campaigns, not by promoting separatism,” said the lawmaker.
The Deputy Speaker underlined that the Ukrainians form the largest minority ethnic group in Moldova and the majority population managed to identify a balance in the integrationist process. But the smaller ethnic groups, which enjoy a number of regulated privileges, promote violent separatism by making threats and creating risks that are secessionist in character or that can facilitate secession of any kind by measures taken to destabilize the political, economic, financial, informational, social or cultural situation in Moldova.
Andrian Candu considers that all the Moldovans have only one goal – to have better living conditions, modern standards, social guarantees and higher incomes, with no corruption in the country. “This is the role of the political elites of Moldova, which must hold debates and competitions of ideas and launch modern initiatives on all these subjects. I say it with firmly, based on my international professional experience. We saw these processes in the EU. Consequently, I want similar integration procedures to be applied at home,” said the MP.
As to the risk that Moldova may face the same situation as Ukraine, with some of the countries wanting to protect the speakers of Russian, Gagauz, Bulgarian and other languages, including by military intervention, the Deputy Speaker said the risks are diverse and typical of each of the states in our region. As regards the acts of the Tiraspol regime and the Russian troops deployed in the Transnistrian region, the specialized authorities should ensure broader monitoring and a continuous dialogue should be kept so as to prevent the escalation of the situation. “We must focus on economic projects and the people’s welfare. This should be top priorities in our agendas,” he stated.
Andrian Candu noted that the interethnic relations in Moldova are fully regulated by law. Moldova is a party to the UN and European conventions that regulate this aspect. After Moldova signed these treaties, there were created internal bodies designed to ensure the observance of the legislation to which the country subscribed. “At the same time, there are yet a series of difficulties that must be dealt with, first of all by stepping up the efforts of the authorities and representatives of the national minorities aimed at guaranteeing their rights and by consolidating the consensus between these sides,” he said.
He also said that every citizen must contribute to the integration process in Moldova and be ready to learn the traditions of our co-nationals. The coexistence of the majority population and the minorities in Moldova showed that the ethnic and cultural diversity is a treasure of the country that must be valued. Each ethnic group adds something unique to the identity of the place where they live. Thus, Moldova becomes a tourist attraction for the Europeans and for those from the East. “Unity through Diversity” – this is an EU principle that must be directly put into practice in Moldova, while the elites must unite the population by implementing common development projects and by keeping the diversity elements of every ethic group.
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IPN note: In this series of articles, IPN also presented the opinions of Prime Minister Iurie Leanca, head of the International Relations and Politology Department of the Free International University of Moldova Mihai Cernencu, politologist Vitalie Andrievschi, who manages a network of information-analytical portals in Moldova and Ukraine (ava.md, apn.md, and avaukr.com), and head of the Union of Ukrainians of Moldova Svetlana Mislitski, program director at the Foreign Policy Association Victoria Bucataru, and the Bashkan of Gagauzia Mihail Formuzal. Among those who accepted to answer the Agency’s questions are also MP Alla Mironic, specialist in education economy Andrei Munteanu, who is a member of the Mediation Council of Moldova, head of the National Roma Center Nicolae Radita and others.
Irina Turcanu, IPN
