site.btaBulgarians in Taraclia Seek Support Over Planned Administrative Reform in Moldova

Bulgarians in Taraclia need Bulgaria's support because of planned administrative reform in Moldova, Taraclia Region Chairman Ivan Paslar told BTA on Saturday. He participated in the fifth Grand Assembly of the Association of Bulgarians around the World, which is being held near Varna.

The administrative reform is planned to group the regions in Moldova, and the Taraclia region will pass into the Cahul region, Paslar explained. He recalled that the population of the Taraclia region is about 45,000 people, 70% of whom are Bulgarians. According to Paslar, the merger will prevent Bulgarians from continuing to hold their national festivals, preserving Bulgarian language and culture in the local university, and will most likely lead to limited investment in the region. He added that the Bulgarians in Taraclia would also have difficulties of administrative nature, which would also be a serious problem for them.

"We hope for support from the Bulgarian National Assembly," Paslar said and called on the Foreign Ministry for more active support. He specified that he had also informed the Presidency about the problem, where he had also sought assistance.

Bulgarians in Moldova and Ukraine need support to increase their capacity to work with pre-accession EU funds, added Nina Stoimenova, a member of the Association of Bulgarians around the World, who is also a former deputy minister of regional development and public works. She pointed out that an initiative for signing a tripartite cooperation agreement between the Association, the Academy of Economics in Svishtov and the Taraclia region is being implemented. The idea is then to apply for projects under the Danube Region transnational cooperation programme, possibly involving partners from Romania.