The 7th edition of the Moldovan-German summer school is now underway. The program is organized by Moldova-Institut Leipzig in partnership with the History and Philosophy Department of the State University of Moldova, the “Nichita Stanescu” Romanian Language House, and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Sixteen participants, graduates in political and administrative sciences, cultural studies, social sciences and history, will learn the Romanian language and will visit Transnistria, Gagauzia, Iasi and Odessa in order to better understand Moldova, IPN reports.
Alexandru Bantos, head of the Romanian Language House, said during the summer school's opening that his institution teaches Romanian to 300 people every year, some of them representatives of various diplomatic missions in Chisinau. The Romanian Language House is like a bridge between the EU and Moldova, and such summer courses for foreign graduates create many new connections.
Deputy Ministry of Culture, Igor Sarov, thinks this project is unique because it is usually Moldovan students who attend summer schools in the EU and not the other way around. Sarov hopes that the young Germans will get to know Moldova beyond its labels as “the poorest country in Europe” and “the country with the highest emigration level”, and that local culture and history will impress them.
Thomas Weithoner, permanent representative of the German Ambassador to Chisinau, noted that the Embassy supports many projects in Moldova, many of them concerning regional development, because all people need decent living conditions, not only those living in the capital city. The diplomat thinks it is obvious that the people want to be in the EU, want a better life, and the EU is supporting Moldova, which enjoys the biggest level of assistance per capita within the Neighborhood Policy. However, it became just as obvious that money doesn't guarantee success and the country's European future depends on the government's political will.
The Moldovan-German summer school is funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research within DAAD's “go east – Sommerschulen” program. It was initiated in 2009 by professor Klaus Bochmann, head of Moldova-Institut Leipzig, with the goal to create a bridge between the young people from the two countries and encourage German students' interest in Moldova and the Romanian language.
