Report on the Implementation of the Minorities Rights in Moldova[EN]
Report on the Implementation of the Minorities Rights in Moldova[EN]
Raport privind punerea în aplicare a drepturilor minorităților în Republica Moldova[RO]
Raport privind punerea în aplicare a drepturilor minorităților în Republica Moldova[RO]
Доклад об осуществлении прав меньшинств в Молдове[RU]
Доклад об осуществлении прав меньшинств в Молдове[RU]

Report on the Implementation of the Minorities Rights in Moldova

The report represents an overview of the developments relevant to the implementation of minority rights in Moldova. As regards the content, the report covers the failure of the Moldovan authorities to learn from the CoE recommendations and opinions on Moldova in almost all respects. It is regrettable, since due to the evident misunderstanding by the national authorities of the essential observations of the Opinion, they have not been addressed by the Moldovan authorities. Apart from that, the Moldovan policy remains substantially unchanged in the long run with regard to the most fundamental aspects of the minority rights protection in Moldova. This policy is in fact the manifestation of a lack of critical awareness of the up-to-date European concept of minority protection. This being said, Moldovan authorities also prove the inability to take measures in practice to address the most evident and straightforward concerns to tackle in the knowledgeable and comprehensive way. This means the substantial lack of the institutional capacity to carry out and implement minority rights sensitive policies.

The major failures outlined in the report are: - continuation of the Soviet time inherited policy of forcible assimilation (russification) of the disadvantaged (Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Gagauz) and  national minorities; - reinforcement of the excessive centralization policies regarding education, cultural development, use of minority language in the public sphere; - brutal disregard to the plight of the institutionally discriminated Roma minority, particularly in rural areas; - institutionalization of intolerance and abusive prosecution of the new minorities, such as Muslims and other non-Orthodox religions. Unfortunately, the report hardly observed any measures taken in practice having the impact and effect of improvement, apart from the show-off events, declarations and political talks about improvement. Hopefully, the report can provide a meaningful alternative to the state-provided information and will balance the understanding by the international community of the realities existing in Moldova.