VZCZCXRO9853
RR RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHCH #0034/01 0111236
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 111236Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6117
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHISINAU 000034 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/UMB, DRL/IRF, AND DRL/AE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KIRF KDEM PINR MD
SUBJECT: CHRISTMAS TREE FIGHT DERAILS MOLDOVAN GOVERNMENT 
ECUMENICAL OUTREACH 
 
REF: A. 07 CHISINAU 1490 
     ¶B. 07 CHISINAU 1141 
     ¶C. 07 CHISINAU 955 
     ¶D. 07 CHISINAU 089 
 
Classified By: CDA Kelly A. Keiderling under 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  An ecumenical outreach by the Government of 
Moldova (GOM), which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and 
European Integration planned to propose to Prime Minister 
Tarlev, was thwarted by the Christmas Tree fight (ref A) 
between the GOM and Chisinau's city government, and by an 
atmosphere that a distressed Moldovan diplomat called 
"religiously poisonous."  End Summary. 
 
Moldovan Diplomat Promotes Ecumenical Reception to his 
Minister 
---------------------------Q---- 
----------Q------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Gheorghe Aparece (protect), acting U.S. Desk Officer 
at the MFA, read the USG's 2007 International Religious 
Freedom Report (IRFR) as a wake-up call to his own 
government.  He mooted to us (ref B) a plan to involve the 
Roman Catholic Church in Moldova as a catalyst to promote 
ecumenism in Moldova and reduce the regressive influence of 
the majority Moldovan Orthodox Church (MOC), which is 
subordinate to the Patriarch of Moscow.  In a November 28, 
2007, memo which he drafted for Foreign Minister Stratan (and 
shared with us--protect), Aparece noted that the 2007 IRFR 
criticized the privileged status of the MOC, leaving Moldovan 
officials without "a minimum level of plausible arguments" to 
make in reply.  Warning that the pace of U.S. criticism of 
human rights in Moldova was likely to increase in the runup 
to 2009 elections, he proposed that the GOM begin to take an 
"equidistant" stance to all religions, and, at the highest 
possible level, host a reception for the heads of Christian 
confessions which celebrate Christmas on December 25. 
Imitating by flattery, Aparece noted that the idea of the 
reception came from the IRFR, which described a reception 
hosted by Ambassador Kirby for representatives of 21 
religious organizations.  (See ref D.)  Aparece ruefully 
noted in his memo that the American event was the first such 
meeting in Moldova's history, and that the GOM had a duty to 
do something similar. 
 
Concentrate on the Roman Catholics--Small, Safe, Helpful 
------------------------------- ------------------------ 
 
¶3. (C) Aparece also proposed in his memo that the GOM 
concentrate its ecumenical efforts on the Roman Catholic 
Church, arguing, from the international perspective, that the 
EU can be seen as a "Catholic Club," and that Bulgaria 
assisted its efforts to join the EU by appointing a Roman 
Catholic, Meglena Cuneva, as its chief negotiator, and 
organizing a Papal visit to Sofia in 2002.  From the 
ecclesiastical perspective, Aparece argued that the Roman 
Catholic Church was a useful starting point for GOM religious 
outreach in Moldova because it was small and subject to a 
hierarchy interested in stable relations.  (He also added 
that GOM proximity to the Roman Catholic Church locally would 
"improve the comments on freedom of religion in the country 
in future reports of the State Department.")  Aparece further 
argued to his Minister that the Roman Catholic Church kept a 
closer watch on Islamic jihadism than did Christian Orthodox 
churches, implying that the Roman Catholics could be a useful 
source of information on that front. 
 
If No Reception, at Least Some Congratulations 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (C) Failing a GOM reception for churches which observe 
Christmas on December 25, Aparece urged that the GOM could at 
least congratulate such churches on their Feast of the 
Nativity, and congratulate members of other faiths, such as 
Jews and Lutherans, on their major holidays.  Most 
importantly, he concluded in his memo, European integration 
required such approaches.  Aparece noted that Stratan had 
responded positively to the memo. 
 
Christmas Fights Halt Goodwill Gestures 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) In a meeting with us on January 10, Aparece ruefully 
noted that the Christmas tree fight between the GOM and the 
Chisinau City administration (ref A), and associated disputes 
about the dates of Christmas (the MOC observes the 
celebration on January 7), had so poisoned the atmosphere 
that FM Stratan was unwilling to forward Aparece's memo to 
the Prime Minister.  Aparece also noted with disgust that 
 
CHISINAU 00000034  002 OF 002 
 
 
television interviewers in the past week had been 
push-polling people on the street to give positive responses 
to questions regarding the January 7, as opposed to the 
December 25, date for Christmas. 
 
¶6. (C) Comment:  Aparece, born in 1977, is a fast-tracker at 
the MFA.  He is also unusually sensitive to Moldova's 
international reputation.  He seems able to push his views 
to, and receive a positive hearing from, the highest levels 
of his Ministry.  He is probably moving a bit too fast for 
Moldova and its monopolist MOC, but he is moving, and pushing 
others to move, in the path that Moldova should take if its 
improved law on religion (ref C) and hopes for European 
integration, are to have any effect.  End Comment. 
 
Keiderling 
KEIDERLING