First meeting of the Working Groups on education this year

On 24 April 2025, at the initiative of Chișinău, the first meeting of the Working Groups on education this year was held via videoconference in the Chișinău office of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, attended by experts from both banks of the Nistru River.

In order to ensure the identification of viable solutions to the issues included in the agenda, in addition to the experts from the Ministry of Education and Research, representatives of the People's Advocate's Office, the „Promo-LEX” Association, as well as the directors of the eight Romanian-language educational institutions in the Transnistrian region were invited to the meeting.

Despite the open and constructive approach demonstrated by Chișinău's experts in organizing and conducting the meeting, at its outset, the Tiraspol representatives attempted to block the session under the pretext of the participation of a representative from „Promo-LEX”, who had been invited as a human rights expert, considering the importance of the Association’s expertise and its involvement in discussions related to educational challenges and children’s rights in the Transnistrian region, with the goal of identifying fair and sustainable solutions.

The categorical refusal to continue the meeting in the presence of a „Promo-LEX” representative, under fabricated pretexts is an attempt by Tiraspol to hinder the work of the sectoral Working Group and is a clear intention to undermine the dialogue in the field of education, as well as to counteract the process of solving the current issues on the agenda proposed by Chișinău. Such an approach by the Tiraspol representatives contradicts the fundamental principles of human rights and undermines the efforts to achieve a constructive dialogue in order to solve the existing problems in the field of education and the protection of children's rights.

During the meeting, the discussions focused on the issue of restoring the ownership rights of the Ministry of Education and Research to the buildings of the Theoretical Lyceum „Evrica” ​​and the adjacent lands located in Râbnița, in order to implement a plan for the sustainable reconstruction of the damaged buildings in accordance with the provisions of the legislation of the Republic of Moldova and the subsequent provision of the educational process in accordance with national and European standards in this field.

Also at the meeting, representatives from Chișinău raised the issue of illegal actions by Tiraspol structures related to the forced „military registration” of pupils from Romanian-language educational institutions in the region. In this context, a representative of the People's Advocate's Office reported on recently registered complaints regarding the summoning of young citizens of the Republic of Moldova for illegal „military registration”, as well as their forced military service in the structures of the region.

Further discussions covered the integration of pupils from the left bank of the Nistru River into the Moldovan educational system and, by extension, into the European Higher Education Area, in line with the Bologna Process. At the same time, Chișinău experts provided updates on actions taken by relevant institutions to ensure the right to education in the mother tongue for young people from the left bank and their access to higher education, both within the Republic of Moldova and abroad. In this regard, Tiraspol representatives were once again informed of the full range of specific measures undertaken by the Chișinău authorities to facilitate access to education for youth from the region, including opportunities for continuing studies abroad.

The experts agreed to maintain ongoing dialogue and adopt a constructive approach in addressing the existing challenges in the field of education.

Chișinău reaffirms its commitment to the principles of transparency, legality, and inclusion, and condemns any attempt to manipulate or delay the negotiation process.