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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Moldova has one of the best legislations in Europe on the protection of the rights of the national minorities. There are no conflicts among the minorities as regards the protection of human rights and national cohesion. There is a continuous dialogue between the organizations that represent the minorities, while the ethnic situation is stable, said the head of the Bulgarian community in Moldova. According to Fiodor Sabii, if there are ideas that impinge on the sovereignty and independence of Moldova and that run counter to the Constitution, they must be treated as acts of separatism, no matter where they come from. But not all the initiatives, including those put forward by the national minorities, should be classed as acts of separatism.
Fiodor Sabii gave as example an initiative of the Bulgarians. “One year ago, on April 12, the Taraclia District Council decided to ask for a special status for the Taraclia district, enshrined in an organic law. Such a decision does not impinge on the statehood of Moldova and does not run counter to the Constitution. The Bulgarians do not want autonomy and additional powers. They only want Taraclia district to be able to keep its status in case of a territorial administrative reform,” he stated.
Asked about the risk of Moldova facing the same situation as Ukraine, when some of the countries want to defend the speakers of Russian, Bulgarian, Gagauz and other languages, including by military intervention, Fiodor Sabii said that there are now no preconditions for such a scenario. He considers that the internal situation in the future will depend a lot on how the country’s administration discusses with the people. When there is no contact with the people, there can appear tense situations. According to him, if the law on the special legal status of Gagauzia (Gagauz-Yeri) is respected, a scenario similar to that in Ukraine will not be possible.
“Neither Bulgaria, nor Turkey or any other state want to be the authors of a civil war in the center of Europe. All the Moldovan citizens, regardless of the nationality, must become patriots of this country. Any acts of separatism must be contained. We are citizens of one state and the situation depends a lot on the position of those who manage the country,” stated Fiodor Sabii. He added that the political leaders and the rulers must be prudent when they make statements so that everyone understands that what they do is for the benefit of all the country’s people, regardless of the nationality.
Fiodor Sabii underlined the necessity of everyone speaking the official language, but said that the authorities do not make sufficient effort in this respect. “It is a shame to be a citizen of this country and not to know its language. It is even more painful when the young people of Bulgarian or other nationalities graduate from the State University, but do not know the official language,” said the head of the Bulgarian community. According to him, the central authorities must work out special programs for teaching the official language in the communities where it is not widely spoken, as soon as possible. A solution is to implement mechanisms for studying the official language, similar to those for studying foreign languages, in the schools of the national minorities.
Alina Marin, IPN
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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, the Bashkan of Gagauzia Mihail Formuzal, Deputy Head of Parliament Andrian Candu, and specialist in education economy and a consultant of the Mediation Council of Moldova Andrei Munteanu. Among those who accepted to answer the Agency’s questions are also MP Alla Mironic and the head of the National Roma Center Nicolae Radita.
