The decision of the President of Moldova Maia Sandu to rename the state language from Moldovan to Romanian not only contradicts the constitution of the republic, but also contains an open challenge to other ethnic groups – Russian-speaking citizens, Gagauz, and all Moldovans who would like to live in their own independent state, and not become Romanian province, Elena Panina, a member of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, told RIA Novosti.
Earlier it was reported that after the inauguration of Maya Sandu on the official website of the President of Moldova, the state language was renamed from Moldovan to Romanian. In 2013, the Constitutional Court (CC) of Moldova made a decision that the state language in the republic is Romanian. At the same time, the country’s constitution states that the state language is Moldovan. According to the Constitutional Court, the text of the declaration of independence of Moldova, in which Romanian is named as the state language, prevails over the country’s constitution.
“The issue of language is a political issue, a question of the sovereignty of Moldova, a question of guarantee against a possible absorption by Romania, which is opposed by a good half of the country’s population and all national minorities. Sandu’s decision not only contradicts the Moldovan constitution, but also contains an open challenge to all these groups – Russian-speaking citizens , Gagauzians, as well as all Moldovans who would like to live in their own independent state, and not turn the country into a second-rate Romanian province, “Panina said.
According to the parliamentarian, this decision by Sandu almost immediately after his official inauguration is alarming. Panina believes that the new President of Moldova with her “Romanian” language demarche “sent a rather hostile signal to Transnistria.
“In essence, this means that Sandu does not want a productive dialogue with Tiraspol. This is a step towards increasing tensions, which threatens to cancel out many years of efforts to normalize relations, overcome mistrust between people living on both sides of the Dniester,” the MP said.
Panina also recalled that if Sandu decided to stake on “Great Romanian nationalism”, she should remember that throughout the entire history of the modern Moldovan statehood, this has never led to anything good.