Nicolae Timofti is first President who visited Romanian Language House

President Nicolae Timofti on June 12 took part in a ceremony held to close Romanian language courses at the Romanian Language House “Nichita Stanescu”. The institution’s head Alexandru Bantos said that Nicolae Timofti is the fourth President of Moldova, but the first who visited the Romanian Language House, Info-Prim Neo reports. Alexandru Bantos stated that the doors of the Romanian Language House are open to everyone, regardless of the ethnic or social origin or the political orientation. He added that the linguistic climate in the country is very important. Effort is made to increase the number of persons who know Romanian, but this climate leaves much to be desired, especially in urban areas. According to Alexandru Bantos, during many years they hadn’t been supported by the authorities. They were even pressed into changing the name of the institution. Nicolae Timofti said that discussions to establish which the official language of the country is have been held for 20 years and it is now time to abandon such sterile discussions. When time comes, changes will be made to the legislation so as to solve all the linguistic problems. “I knew judges who didn’t know the official language, but claimed they did justice to persons who spoke it. We now have MPs who say that they do everything for the people’s welfare, but do not speak the language of this people. The officials should be more responsible and become more involved,” he stated, adding that the Ministry of Education should continue the practice of punishing those who teach superficial Romanian language lessons in schools for students who speak other languages than Romanian. Alexei Axan, teacher at the Romanian Language House “Nichita Stanescu”, said that their Romanian language courses were also attended by foreigners, including Germans, Italians, Ukrainians, and Georgians, as well as the EU Ambassador in Chisinau Dirk Schuebel. The institution can teach 250-300 persons a month. According to Alexei Axan, fewer persons attended the courses in the Communist period. The Romanian Language House cooperates intensely with the National Employment Agency. As many as 120 persons from socially underprivileged families or unemployed persons attend courses every month. The costs are covered by the Chisinau City Hall. The Romanian Language House “Nichita Stanescu was inaugurated on August 31, 1998.