Moldovan opposition appeals against ban

Protesters say Moldova is becoming a Russian province

The main opposition party in Moldova plans to appeal against a government decision to suspend its activities.

The ban followed street protests over the authorities' move to make Russian an official language alongside Moldovan and to make it a compulsory subject in schools.

This decision is the fruit of the Communist Party's political intolerance

Iurie Rosca, CDPP leader

The leader of the Christian Democratic Popular Party (CDPP), Iurie Rosca, said the ban was an attempt by the Communist-dominated government to suppress the opposition.

"This decision is the fruit of the Communist Party's political intolerance. It does not have any legal grounds, a fact that we will try to prove in the [Moldova's] Supreme Justice Court in coming days."

Mr Rosca also said his party intended to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights if the Supreme Court's decision was negative.

Street protests

The Justice Minister, Ion Morei, suspended the CDPP's activities for a month, saying the party had been staging illegal street protests and disrupting traffic in the capital, Chisinau (formerly Kishinev).

Protesters urged schools to boycott Russian lessons

The ban means the CDPP can no longer use its bank accounts, publish newspapers or take part in electoral campaigns.

Mr Morei did not rule out a complete ban if the party, which advocates unification of Moldova and neighbouring Romania, continued its demonstrations.

Around 3,000 people have been taking part in daily demonstrations against what they perceive as the government's intentions to push the former Soviet republic closer to Russia and away from the rest of Europe.

Romanian leaders also criticised the ban, saying that for Moldova it was a step back from the European norms and democratic values.

Russian orbit

Earlier this month Moldova made Russian a compulsory language in schools.

Communists are pressing for closer ties with Russia

It was one of the pre-election promises of the Communist Party, which was swept to power last year amid mass disillusionment in one of Europe's poorest countries.

Moldova's Communist President Vladimir Voronin is a strong advocate of the country joining the political union of Russia and Belarus.

Last month the government ratified a friendship treaty with Russia, defining it as Moldova's strategic partner.

Around 75% of Moldovans are of Romanian descent and speak Moldovan, which is virtually identical to Romanian.

However, the country has a large Russian-speaking minority, and Russian is widely spoken in the cities.