Interview

"I am the mother of two school children, two pupils at a secondary school, who are forced to study in the afternoon, from 1 p.m. till 4:40 p.m., because they don't have a place to study. The school in itself doesn't have a building as a normal school should have, we are distributed in three buildings, two of which are called auxiliary because a kindergarten and moreover the forest fold cannot stand for a school at all. The main school is a boarding school and since their children have lessons there in the morning we are forced to have lessons only between 1 p.m. and 4:40 p.m because at 5 p.m the children come to coaching and we don't have any possibility to study beyond the curricula, to create and do some extracurricular activities and some consultations or simply meet with the children, because we want to and the children are willing to but we don't have a proper space for this."
I.M. - Mrs. Melenciuc, what is your opinion about solving the conflict, are you optimistic? Do you think the mediator forces play any role in solving this problem? Who do you think from the international bodies like NATO, OSCE, UNO will be able to make order here?
M.E. - You asked me about optimism and I would like to say that I am an optimistic person but regretfully during a period of ten years my optimism decreased and I think it will be soon equal to none. When all these conflicts aroused my children were in the 4th grade and in the 3rd grade and I thought: 'ok, if not this year it might be the next year, if not in two years then in three years it will be better and we will achieve something good. Nevertheless, nothing has been solved out, and my opinion is that as long as Moscow has its own interests here and will interfere in Moldova's affairs the situation won't be solved because everything comes from Moscow. This is my opinion. It hurts me that nobody from the government, from the parliament, from the country's officials, even it was Snegur and Lucinschi and Mr. Voronin today, or maybe he wants to be called "comrade", nobody stands up to say loudly that Moscow interferes in the Republic of Moldova's affairs. There is nobody to do the same thing Shevardnadze does in Georgia or others do in order to solve their problems. I don't understand why we have to subdue to others since we call ourselves an Independent Republic. Yes, we are friends; we are comrades, but nothing more than this. This is my opinion. I don't know, I cannot see anything done for now. It was a time when we were thinking of help from the international bodies, but it seems to me that even they won't be able to do anything for us. So many meetings have been held, so many negotiations have taken place and we still aren't moving forward; nothing is evolving to something good. The compromises that are done are on the Republic of Moldova behalf in favor of Transnistria; meanwhile Transnistria stubborn and doesn't give us a thing, absolutely none!
I.M. - What do you think should Kishinau's government do in order to solve the conflict?
M.E. - I have already told you what the first step should be: persons entirely devoted to our nation should rule our country. Someone like Stephan the Great but whom I really don't think we'll have ever. I really don't know what should be done; everybody is playing Moscow's cards.