League of Russian Youth: We don't want to study history of Romanians

Representatives of the League of Russian Youth (LRY) said during a press conference on Tuesday that they are completely against studying "the so-called history of Romanians" in schools because it ignores the role of ethnic minorities in the country's history.

See an Imedia back story on the controversy over the History of Romanians here. Currently, the subject taught in schools is simply called History.

Sergiu Mustata, head of the Association of Historians (AH), criticized the LRY, saying that "the Association of Historians is not against discussing problems regarding history, but we would like to talk to professional historians, including ones from Russia. We do not want to talk about history with engineers or with politicians."

The LRY recently hosted a debate about this topic, mostly attended by pro-Russian leaders like politician Valeri Klimenko; Russian Duma representative Alexei Liubtov; the head of an organization called The Young Guard; and a representative from the Russian Embassy. Mr. Klimenko recently organized a protest in front of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau, asking for Russian to be made a second state language in the country. Mr. Klimenko and the demonstrators also chanted "We Love You, Russia" during the protest.

An AH representative, Igor Casu, was also present. Mr. Casu said that during the debate, Russia asked "in an authoritarian manner" for Moldova to study a subject called the History of Moldova instead of the History of Romanians, and for the exclusion of topics like the deportation of Moldovans by the Soviets, as well as naming the Soviet Union an "occupier."

Some ruling Alliance representatives have said they would try to re-introduce the History of Romanians in schools after the Communists eliminated it from the curriculum.