52 CATAN AND OTHERS v. MOLDOVA AND RUSSIA JUDGMENT the world, using teaching materials produced in Soviet times or, alternatively, subjecting their children to long journeys and/or substandard facilities, harassment and intimidation. 144. There is no evidence before the Court to suggest that the measures taken by the “MRT” authorities in respect of these schools pursued a legitimate aim. Indeed, it appears that the “MRT”‘s language policy, as applied to these schools, was intended to enforce the Russification of the language and culture of the Moldovan community living in Transdniestria, in accordance with the “MRT”‘s overall political objectives of uniting with Russia and separating from Moldova. Given the fundamental importance of primary and secondary education for each child’s personal development and future success, it was impermissible to interrupt these children’s schooling and force them and their parents to make such difficult choices with the sole purpose of entrenching the separatist ideology. 3. The responsibility of the Respondent States (a) The Republic of Moldova 145. The Court must next determine whether the Republic of Moldova has fulfilled its obligation to take appropriate and sufficient measures to secure the applicants’ rights under Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (see paragraph 110 above). In the Ilaşcu judgment (cited above, §§ 339-340) the Court held that Moldova’s positive obligations related both to the measures needed to re-establish its control over the Transdniestrian territory, as an expression of its jurisdiction, and to measures to ensure respect for the individual applicants’ rights. The obligation to re-establish control over Transdniestria required Moldova, first, to refrain from supporting the separatist regime and, secondly, to act by taking all the political, judicial and other measures at its disposal for re-establishing control over that territory. 146. As regards the fulfilment of these positive obligations, the Court in Ilaşcu further found that from the onset of hostilities in 1991-92 until the date of the judgment, in July 2004, Moldova had taken all measures in its power to re-establish control over the Transdniestrian territory (cited above, §§ 341 to 345). There is no evidence before the Court to suggest that it should reach any different conclusion in the present case. 147. In the Ilaşcu judgment the Court found that Moldova had failed fully to comply with its positive obligation to the extent that it had failed to take all the measures available to it in the course of negotiations with the “MRT” and Russian authorities to bring about the end of the violation of the applicants’ rights (cited above, §§ 348-352). In the present case, in contrast, the Court considers that the Moldovan Government have made considerable efforts to support the applicants. In particular, following the requisitioning of the schools’ former buildings by the “MRT”, the Moldovan Government