Ecologists oppose 'defacement' of All Saints Church

The “Green Alliance” Ecological Party asks the Chisinau City Hall to find another place for the construction of a new church and avoid the defacement of the All Saints Church. The church is a XIX century architectural monument and building an appendix to it would seriously affect the monument, say the ecologists. The Ecological Party suggests that building a new church near the old one instead of the planned appendix would be the best solution. But the major problem is the lack of land for such a new church. “We agree, the church should be enlarged, but not at the cost of the monument. The law must be respected. We ask the City Hall not to turn a deaf ear to this request and urgently allot a proper plot of land in this area, as long as it found space for apartment buildings in the vicinity”, Andrei Dumbraveanu, the party's secretary, told a news conference. Andrei Dumbraveanu also suggested that the legislation should be changed so that the land for building new churches could be given for free, and not for a fee or under public auction procedures.