The decision of the Constitutional Court of Moldova to deprive the Russian language of the status of a language of interethnic communication in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was called infringing on the rights of the Russian-speaking population of the republic.
This is stated in the comments of the official representative of the department Maria Zakharova.
The diplomat added that the verdict is "deeply regrettable."
According to Zakharova, this step “cannot but disappoint” by the fact that in November 2020, Maia Sandu promised to do everything in her power in the event of her victory in the presidential election to make the use of the Russian language “up to par” ...
“She (Sandu. -
RT
) urged not to believe the 'horror stories' that after her election the rights of the Russian-speaking population to study and apply to government agencies in their native language would be infringed.
Less than a month after her inauguration, these promises were violated, ”Zakharova recalled.
The commentary also states that the issue of the status of the Russian language is of great importance both for the preservation of interethnic harmony in the Moldovan society, and in the context of the Transnistrian settlement.
In turn, the ex-President of Moldova, leader of the Party of Socialists Igor Dodon also condemned the decision of the Constitutional Court of the republic.
The politician said this during a live broadcast on YouTube.
Dodon began his speech in Russian, stressing that he was doing this in protest against the decision taken by the court and to support the Russian-speaking population of Moldova.
The politician called the resolution of the Constitutional Court “illegal and unconstitutional”.
“Moldova is a multinational country,” Dodon stressed.
The politician recalled the events of the early 1990s, when the young republic faced an increase in nationalist sentiments.
Igor Dodon
© REUTERS / Vladislav Culiomza
“Then we in Moldova showed political wisdom and agreed that we would not raise nationalistic issues anymore <...> and that the Russian language would be the language of interethnic communication,” Dodon recalled, stressing that such a decision was made long ago to preserve the country's unity.
“Now we see that, just like in the early 90s, someone is raising a nationalist wave.
<...> This is a very dangerous tendency.
<…> Yesterday's decision of the Constitutional Court will have very serious consequences, ”Dodon said.
He also did not rule out that protests could start in the republic.
“I promise you that we, the Party of Socialists, will register a new bill today <...>, which will be put to a vote at the first session of parliament, when the session opens on February 4-5.
We will insist that this law be adopted, ”he said.
"Continuation of the previous policy"
Let us remind you that on the eve of the Constitutional Court of Moldova, the law endowing the Russian language with the status of the language of interethnic communication was unconstitutional.
As stated in the message of the chairman of the Constitutional Court Domnika Manole, the decision was made on the basis of Article 13 of the Constitution.
It says that the state language of the country is Romanian, while the state recognizes and protects the right to preserve, develop and operate the Russian language and other languages used in the country.
"The Russian language in this constitutional norm is indicated as an example and is not endowed with a special status in relation to other languages used on the territory of the country (Ukrainian, Gagauz, Bulgarian, Romani, etc.)," the message says.
As one of the arguments in favor of its decision, the authority also cited data from the population census conducted in 2014.
The court noted that in certain areas Russian is less common than, for example, Ukrainian.
“From the same data, it follows that in some areas Russian is used by less than 3% of the population,” said Manole.
In addition, as noted in the Constitutional Court, giving the Russian language the status of a language of interethnic communication gives it the position of “quasi-official”.
On January 21, when the Constitutional Court was supposed to rule on the language law, protesters gathered outside the building of the instance, among whom were both supporters of maintaining a special status for the Russian language and opponents.
Reinforced police squads arrived at the courthouse.
Among the supporters of the abolition of the special status of the Russian language is the Democratic Party of Moldova.
Its leader Pavel Filip welcomed the decision of the Constitutional Court and called it “a new victory over the Dodon-Shor regime”.
President of the Constitutional Court of Moldova Domnika Manole
© www.constcourt.md
"Today's decision actually provides for sanctions against politicians who deliberately want to provoke chaos and division in society without caring about the consequences," Philip said.
In turn, the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) criticized the court's decision, recalling that the Constitutional Court had previously considered the law on language twice and eventually refused to suspend it.
“The short memory of the judges of the Constitutional Court is surprising, who neglected their own decisions, adopted literally two months ago,” the political force said in a statement.
It is also noted that "the need for constitutional reform is becoming more and more obvious."
The party believes that the scope of authority of the Constitutional Court should be limited to "interpreting the country's Constitution."
However, as the head of the department of Moldova of the Institute of CIS Countries Sergei Lavrenov noted in the RT commentary, the decision of the Constitutional Court on the issue of the Russian language was expected.
“Most of the judges of the Constitutional Court take a pro-European position.
And Maia Sandu has long been leading an offensive against the Russian language.
Back in the days when she was the Minister of Education, the Russian language was removed from the school curriculum and transferred to the category of optional classes.
Therefore, the current decision continues the previous policy, ”Lavrenov explained.
At the same time, he stressed that there is no real reason for this.
“The Russian language is actively used in everyday life in all regions of modern Moldova.
Therefore, the Constitutional Court's decision has a purely political motive, ”the expert said.
Although the Party of Socialists promises to pass a new law on the Russian language, the chances that the initiative will be implemented are slim, political analysts say.
"This is a difficult question.
The fact that now many politicians in Moldova are in favor of holding early parliamentary elections can play a role, and opposition on this issue is growing.
In addition, the assistance from the EU, which Sandu is counting on, matters, ”said Sergei Lavrenov.
A similar point of view is shared by Boris Mezhuev, associate professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University.
"Given the current political situation, it is unlikely that Dodon and the Party of Socialists will be able to pass a second law on language, now they are not in the strongest position," the expert explained in an interview with RT.
"Nationalist wave"
As historians note, Russian culture and language have deep roots in Moldova.
The Moldavian principality was founded on territories where almost 40% of the population were Rusyns.
Until the beginning of the 18th century, the language of Carpathian Rus was the official language of the principality.
At a time when Bessarabia was part of Romania (from 1918 to 1940), an active policy of Romanization was pursued in the region.
However, these efforts were unsuccessful, and the Russian language retained its position in the country.
© Sputnik / Andrey Iglov
As shown by the 1989 census, out of 4335360 residents of Moldova, 446,417 people considered Russian as their native language, and 1,962,112 citizens spoke it fluently as a second language.
In the same year, the country adopted the law "On the functioning of languages in the Moldavian SSR."
The document assigned the status of a means of interethnic communication to the Russian language, and Moldavian became the only state language.
This angered many residents of the republic - strikes began in Transnistria demanding a referendum on the language issue.
At the same time, the growth of nationalist sentiments in Bessarabia continued.
As a result, the confrontation resulted in an armed conflict.
The bloodshed was stopped in 1992, when a Russian peacekeeping contingent entered the region.
Now on the territory of the self-proclaimed Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublika, there are three official languages - Russian, Moldavian and Ukrainian.
In Moldova, in 2018, the Russian language even lost its status as a language of interethnic communication.
This decision was made then by the Constitutional Court of the country at the request of the deputies from the Liberal Party, advocating the unification of Moldova with Romania.
In December 2020, the parliament supported the initiative of the Party of Socialists and adopted a new law, according to which the status of the interethnic language was returned to the Russian language.
Igor Dodon signed the document just a few days before the expiration of his presidential term.
According to experts, the abolition of this law could lead to extremely negative consequences for Moldova.
As noted by Boris Mezhuev, the country still retained a fairly strong presence of the Russian language.
Transnistrian conflict
© Wikimedia
“Such a decision will negatively affect the self-awareness of the Russian-speaking population, will contribute to the strong frustration of a significant part of the population, which does not perceive the Moldovan language as the only one.
In general, the decision of the Constitutional Court is part of a dangerous trend.
Such a policy can lead to a new round of tension and a repetition of the Ukrainian scenario, ”the expert said.
According to Sergei Lavrenov, this policy is pushed mainly by the unionist parties of Moldova, advocating integration with Romania and supporting Sandu.
“They are trying to raise a nationalist wave in order to oust the Russian-speaking space from Moldova.
This could lead to a further split in the country, ”Lavrenov summed up.