Moldovan mayor wins "battle of Christmas trees"

By Dmitry Chubashenko

CHISINAU (Reuters) - The mayor of Moldova's capital Chisinau, who backs closer ties with neighboring Romania, has scored a symbolic victory over the ex-Soviet state's communist president in a duel focusing on rival Christmas trees.

Municipal staff on Thursday decorated the city's tree by the town hall, but the operation was not as easy as it seemed. It had initially been erected near the government offices only to be removed overnight to make way for the government's own tree.

"We have been putting up a Christmas tree for 12 years, but this is the first time I have seen such a mess. And such a fight over where to put it," said Eugenia Bondarenco, who works for the city firm that supplied its tree.

Moldova and Romania broadly share a common history and language but are locked in a row over borders and national identity, with President Vladimir Voronin furious at Bucharest's suggestions that his people are merely ethnic Romanians.

And though both countries are predominantly Orthodox Christian, Romania's independent church marks Christmas on December 25, while Moldova's, part of Russia's Orthodox Church, follows the old Julian calendar and celebrates on January 7.

Admiring one or the other of the firs, and at which point in the festive season, clearly betrays one's political convictions.

"We want to take a step forward to Europe," said Chisinau's Romanian-educated mayor Dorin Chirtoaca, 29.

Chirtoaca had the tree erected by government headquarters on December 9, but municipal workers sealed off the area with metal barricades and took the tree to a park. It was later allowed to stand by the town hall, 300 meters (yard) from the government building.

The government tree has yet to be erected in keeping with the Russian tradition of waiting for the run-up to the New Year.

The mayor uses every occasion to expand ties with Bucharest. Two days after his election he met Romanian President Traian Basescu, who this week called Moldova a "sea of Romanians" and offers its people fast-track citizenship.

Voronin, the only communist leader of an ex-Soviet state, accuses Romania of "permanent aggression" against his much smaller state, which also has longstanding links to Russia.

Moldova last week expelled two Romanian diplomats.

Romania, now a European Union member, refuses to sign two treaties with Moldova, saying they would legitimize borders set after the Soviet Union seized large areas of Romanian territory.

(Writing by Ron Popeski)