Moldovan authorities decided to expel five Romanian clerics belonging to the Bishopric of Bessarabia. The move comes after the Romanian Orthodox Church reactivated în November three dioceses în the Republic of Moldova which had been closed in 1944 by the Soviet authorities. In December, Moldovan president Voronin accused Romania of undermining Moldova's statehood by luring students to its universities, priests to its church, and by offering Romanian passports to Moldovan citizens.
