Ethnic nationalism, xenophobia and discrimination flourish in the Republic of Moldova today. If the country wants to become a member of the European Union, with such an attitude this is not possible, said activist Fiodor Ghelici.
Fiodor Ghelici is the ambassador and resident representative of the International Organization for Economic Development (IOED) in the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, head of the Regional Office in Moldova for Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine. He is also the official representative of the IOED at the UN in Geneva, the representative of the International Congress for the Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens SHIELD and the representative of the International Union of Diplomats in the Republic of Moldova.
In a news conference hosted by IPN, Fiodor Ghelici said that ethnic nationalism is a form of nationalism wherein the people of other nationalities are considered second-class citizens. Xenophobia shows lack of tolerance of other persons, including those who are of other nationalities or who have another religion, and this leads to discrimination.
According to him, in time he met with tens of cases of discrimination. The most recent case occurred in the election campaign. An election contender was asked to speak Romanian on the national radio station. This is not right as the Republic of Moldova signed a series of international documents that guarantee the observance of citizens’ rights.
“I refer to what happened several days ago during electoral debates, when candidate Diana Caraman decided to answer in Russian. But based on what international document was she deprived of the right to express herself in the language she considers appropriate? She and any other candidate can speak to the voters even in the Mongolian language. We, as representatives of international organizations, didn’t expect something like this. We consider this is a violation of international law and this is against the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova,” stated Fiodor Ghelici.
According to him, ethnic nationalism, xenophobia and discrimination have intensified the last few years, primarily with the contribution of public functionaries. The ordinary people do not behave as discriminatorily as they do in state institutions. Things should be changed as the law must be obeyed.
In the same news conference, a woman who ten years ago moved to Chisinau from the Transnistrian region together with her husband, they both being doctors, complained that the Moldovan authorities do not ensure the realization of the rights stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova. She receives a miserable pension event if this social benefit is a constitutional right. She went to a number of state initiations, but justice to her wasn’t done.
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