Minister sorry for imposing Russian language in schools

CHISINAU, Moldova -- Moldova's education minister apologized Monday for an abortive attempt to make schoolchildren in the former Soviet republic learn Russian, a measure that has prompted huge protests for the past six weeks.

Addressing some 4,000 protesters outside government headquarters, Ilie Vancea suggested his decision last month to make Russian mandatory from second grade was made under pressure from hard-liners within his Communist Party, which dominates the government and favors ties with Russia.

"I made a mistake," Vancea said. "I should have been stronger when it came to sacred things: our language and our history."

The measure touched off daily protests in a country where two-thirds of the people are of Romanian descent. In the Soviet era, Russian was mandatory in all schools and authorities discouraged the use of Moldovan, a Romance language virtually identical to Romanian.

80,000 protest in capital

The government scrapped the Russian requirement Friday, but the demonstrations continued amid mounting calls for the resignation of the government.

Some 80,000 people demonstrated Sunday, in the largest anti-government protest since the party won elections a year ago.

Thousands of high school and university students joined the peaceful protests last week after the government said it would institute new textbooks saying Moldovans are Slavs, a theory used by Stalin to justify annexing Moldova to the Soviet Union in 1940 under a pact with Hitler.