site.btaBulgarians in Moldova Call on Presidents Radev, Sandu to Keep Taraclia University

Bulgarians in Moldova called on the presidents of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, and Moldova, Maia Sandu, to preserve the University of Taraclia. The position was unanimously adopted at an extraordinary meeting of the Bulgarians in Moldova in the aula of the university.

On Wednesday, representatives of various structures of the Taraclia region and of the Bulgarian social and cultural organizations of Moldova gathered to express their deep concern related to the decision of the Moldovan Education Ministry to merge the Grigory Tsamblak University of Taraclia with the Ion Creanga State Pedagogical University of Chisinau.

The participants in the meeting commented that the decision of the Moldovan Education Ministry violates an agreement between Bulgaria and Moldova.

The Bulgarian minority in Moldova asks that the issue of the status of Taraclia University be resolved by means of international negotiations between Bulgaria and Moldova. They insist that the University of Taraclia should be a department of the Angel Kunchev University of Ruse or an independent University under the Moldovan law which is fully funded by Bulgaria.

"We, the participants in the extraordinary meeting of the Bulgarians in Moldova, ask that the demands and hopes of the Bulgarian ethnic minority in this country be taken into account and find an appropriate response from the representatives of the relevant structures, otherwise we intend to exercise our right to fight with all legal means to preserve the Taraclia State University," the position says. The document will be sent to the EU diplomatic mission in Chisinau, the US Embassy, among other international organizations.

Bulgarians in Moldova number between 79,520 and 300,000. According to a 2004 census, ethnic Bulgarians in Moldova number 79,520 (2.02% of the country's population).

(BTA correspondent Irina Bogoeva contributed to this story from Taraclia.)