Written by Brussels journalist David Ferguson
Monday, 26 September 2005
"The local authorities in Ribnitsa have de facto stolen this building. They must give the building back to the school without any further delay and without any conditions," said William Hill, OSCE Head of Mission in Moldova. The school in Ribnita, in the breakaway region of Transdniestria, is one of six education institutions in the region teaching Moldovan/Romanian in the Latin script according to a curriculum established by the Moldovan Ministry of Education in Chisinau.
In summer 2004, Transdniestrian authorities closed four schools for not using Transdniestria's official Cyrillic variant of Moldovan or Romanian arresting several teachers and parents who opposed the closures. During the crisis, a Moldovan government blockade against the Russian-backed breakaway region led to Transdniestria retaliating by cutting off the power supply from plants built predominantly in Transdniestria during the Soviet times.
After arduous OSCE-sponsored negotiations, the four schools, located in Tiraspol, Ribnitsa, Bender and Corjevo, were registered on 1 July allowing them to conclude contracts with local suppliers of water, electricity, and other communal services in time for the new school year. Further negotiations between Moldovan and Transdniestrian education authorities were to set to follow on a common curriculum for disputed subjects such as history and civic education as well as regards licences and accreditation.
"Although the Evrica lyceum, like the other Moldovan schools operating in the Transdniestrian region, received a permanent registration from the Transdniestrian authorities this summer, local authorities in Ribnitsa refuse to return the confiscated building," stated the OSCE press office. During the height of the school crisis in summer 2004, Transdniestrian militia stormed the Evrica lyceum and evicted the pupils, teachers and parents from their premises. Since October 2004 the school has been forced to operate in exile, renting the premises of a kindergarten from a local factory.
Heightened tensions between Moldova and its Russian-backed breakaway region of Transdniestria, as well as Moldova's increasingly pro-Western course, have soured relations with Moscow. Moldova recently declared Russian troops in the Transdniestrian region to be occupying forces demanding their withdrawal. Angry reactions from Moscow have included threatening trade sanctions.
Last week, Moldovan wine exports to Russia, around 85 per cent of the country's total wine produce, suffered from sudden bureaucratic difficulties. "If the Russian Federal Tax Service does not begin again giving documents, we all will be on the verge of bankruptcy," Georgy Kozuba, head of Moldovas Union of Wine Exporters told Russian daily Kommersant.
"The local authorities in Ribnitsa have de facto stolen this building. They must give the building back to the school without any further delay and without any conditions," said William Hill, OSCE Head of Mission in Moldova. The school in Ribnita, in the breakaway region of Transdniestria, is one of six education institutions in the region teaching Moldovan/Romanian in the Latin script according to a curriculum established by the Moldovan Ministry of Education in Chisinau.
In summer 2004, Transdniestrian authorities closed four schools for not using Transdniestria's official Cyrillic variant of Moldovan or Romanian arresting several teachers and parents who opposed the closures. During the crisis, a Moldovan government blockade against the Russian-backed breakaway region led to Transdniestria retaliating by cutting off the power supply from plants built predominantly in Transdniestria during the Soviet times.
After arduous OSCE-sponsored negotiations, the four schools, located in Tiraspol, Ribnitsa, Bender and Corjevo, were registered on 1 July allowing them to conclude contracts with local suppliers of water, electricity, and other communal services in time for the new school year. Further negotiations between Moldovan and Transdniestrian education authorities were to set to follow on a common curriculum for disputed subjects such as history and civic education as well as regards licences and accreditation.
"Although the Evrica lyceum, like the other Moldovan schools operating in the Transdniestrian region, received a permanent registration from the Transdniestrian authorities this summer, local authorities in Ribnitsa refuse to return the confiscated building," stated the OSCE press office. During the height of the school crisis in summer 2004, Transdniestrian militia stormed the Evrica lyceum and evicted the pupils, teachers and parents from their premises. Since October 2004 the school has been forced to operate in exile, renting the premises of a kindergarten from a local factory.
Heightened tensions between Moldova and its Russian-backed breakaway region of Transdniestria, as well as Moldova's increasingly pro-Western course, have soured relations with Moscow. Moldova recently declared Russian troops in the Transdniestrian region to be occupying forces demanding their withdrawal. Angry reactions from Moscow have included threatening trade sanctions.
Last week, Moldovan wine exports to Russia, around 85 per cent of the country's total wine produce, suffered from sudden bureaucratic difficulties. "If the Russian Federal Tax Service does not begin again giving documents, we all will be on the verge of bankruptcy," Georgy Kozuba, head of Moldovas Union of Wine Exporters told Russian daily Kommersant.
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