Report from Moldova

The Moldovian Perspective

The European Idea and the Ethnic Minorities History in the Republic of Moldova

Our society has not managed yet to formulate clearly and firmly its pro-European options. Often and often we realize that the Republic of Moldova is behindhand with obstinacy to reconsider its relationship with Europe by involving itself into the inertness of a pro-East orientation to which it is connected by a mentality and a set of hard to change reflexes of a political class which is anchored into a medium estranged to general evolutions on the old continent.

To understand the complexity of the introduction of the national minorities history study in school, we have to refer to the present situation of the minority communities. A recent census made in 1989 showed that 36% of the population is represented by the ethnic minorities (Russian, Ukrainian, Turk-Gagauzian, Bulgarian, Jews, Gypsies). The Russian and Ukrainian do not live on a compact area. The only rule of this space repartition is connected with the localities type - the majority of the Russians live in towns and Ukrainians in the villages. Because the education in the villages was made in Russian and not in Ukrainian it is hard to say if a true Ukrainian minority exists while the most of them do not speak Ukrainian but Russian. In the Russian schools as well as in those few Ukrainian the pupils do not learn the history of the Russian or Ukrainian minority from the Republic of Moldova but gleanings from the history of the country of origin. But, from the documentary point of view, it seems that, for example, compiling of a Ukrainian minority from the Republic of Moldova history handbook would be better than a history book of those two main minorities. The only minorities which inhabit compactly are Bulgarians and Turk-Gagauzes. The Bulgarians have managed to obtain the status of a territory-administrative unit of the 2^nd grade, so that a new county with the identical name of the former soviet district Taraclia was created. A little bit earlier the administrative autonomous unit Gagauz-Yeri or Gagauzia was founded (as a result of a referendum) for the Turk minority. Again the same problem – the language of study in school is Russian, the Gagauze being a less spoken language by the majority of Gagauzians; the situation among the young people is not much better – the language of communication for them is Russian.

Another drawback in the process of harmonization of the minority-majority relations of the Republic of Moldova is the fact that those four minorities – the Russian, the Ukranian, the Turk-Gagauzian and the Bulgarian – have at their back a « protector state » which tends to use the minority as a passage for the « influence traffic » in zone. In its turn Bucharest is the « protector » for the Romanian majority in Bessarabia. In Moldavian schools they teach « The history of the Romanians ». The attempt to change its name and content into the "History of Moldova" has generated this year (2002) protests of the intellectuals which lasted a few months. More and more people are certain that this drawback could be transformed into a catalyst of European values assimilation in the Republic of Moldova, since Bulgaria and Romania are among the candidates to the European enlargement, Turkey is already an associate state and Ukraine made its Euro Atlantic choice recently. Even the Russian minority, the second by size in the Republic of Moldova, looks with less mistrust towards the West, also due to the fact that, to a certain degree, their children study in schools the European Union languages.

Up to now, the authorities have not shown any particular interest regarding the problem of national minorities history teaching subject, although it was maybe worthwhile to do it, taking the membership status of the Republic of Moldova to the Council of Europe (from 1995, being the first ex-soviet state to joint the CE). The law Nr. 547-XII of 21.07.95 on education, in spite of the amendments and changes done up to now, do not has a single compartment dedicated to national minority’s education, like, for instance, Chapter XII of the Law on Education in Romania : « Education for people who belong to national minorities ».

The discussions around the European History in general appeared relative recently and mainly comes from the civil society. This subject is being studied at the History Faculty of the State University of Moldova, a Pedagogical University ‘Ion Creanga’ from Chisinau and State University from Cahul. We should not overlook in this respect the merit of the Center for Information and Documentation of the Council of Europe, which has a significant role in promoting the idea of the European history and the history of the national minorities in school and university curricular.

A national program which perceives national minorities as a history curricular subject, should pay also special attention, to the relations and interdependence between majority and minorities. In teaching the national minorities’ history one should take into account the role the minorities can play in helping majority to understand its own history.

Although, the problem has to be carefully considered: the national wish for cohesion is liable to be transformed into a propaganda of the extreme nationalist ideas.

There are not too many who can understand which means proposed by politicians are adequate and which takes us away from the European Union. That’s why the European integration perspective of the Republic of Moldova needs an adequate binder. An European integration project for Moldova should begin by letting people know the right ways to follow and by denouncing the unrealistic proposals which come, in general, from the East oriented parties.

Ion Osoianu,

House of Europe Moldova