No problems between ethnic groups, just politicians who exploit ideals, President

There are no real problems between ethnic groups in Moldova, and the linguistic issue should be removed from the category of problems, stated Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti in an interview with Info-Prim Neo published on 8 August 2012. “There is no problem between the ethnicities of Moldova. Those who talk of such things have malicious intentions. We have Laws that allow every citizen to speak and study in their mother tongue. We have schools that teach in Russian, Ukrainian, Gagauzian, and others. There are few countries where ethnic minorities have as many rights as those in Moldova. It is clear, however, that order in a society necessitates the use of the State’s official language. It is a very simple request, we don’t ask for much. However, some of those who have been living here for some time cannot speak Romanian, despite having studied it in school, provided by the State Budget, by the way. Something is wrong here, when a student studies the official language for 10 years, and cannot form one complete sentence. They don’t know it, but they get 10s at the exams. In my opinion, right from elementary school, every child should be taught respect towards the official language; for their own good. Those who wish themselves a beautiful career in Moldova, or want to be promoted to certain State institutions, must be proficient in the official language, everyone, including those from the Government, Parliament, etc.”, said the President. At the same time, President Timofti set forth two reasons why Moldova didn't reach the destination set 21 years ago when it became independent. “There are many possible explanations, but the most important one, in my opinion, is that we failed to organize ourselves in such a way that would make use of our liberation. Moreover, during different periods, some of the leaders did not ensure the continuity of the actions that had been started by their predecessors, but wiped everything and switched the tune. This confused us. We have had one too many politicians who, regrettably, have managed to only satisfy their interests, to the detriment of our people’s aspirations. Some even led us astray and exploited our sentiment of freedom, our national, patriotic feelings. We were disoriented, had our periods of confusion and have lost much time before returning to our initial ideas. The fact that we were not faithful to our initial course cost us dearly, but I hope that we have learned our lesson and have, finally, chosen our priorities”, stated President Nicolae Timofti in an interview with Info-Prim Neo.