Moldovan parliament restricts use of Russian, prompts opposition walkout

By Alexander Tanas

CHISINAU, May 7 (Reuters) – The parliament in ex-Soviet Moldova, controlled by pro-European President Maia Sandu’s party, curbed the use of the Russian language in the chamber on Thursday, prompting a walkout by pro-Russian and right-wing opposition parties.

New procedural rules placed time limits on addresses and proclaimed Romanian to be the working language in the chamber. Russian had previously been classified as an “inter-ethnic” language and documents were routinely translated.

Communist member Constantin Staris said the new regulations undermined parliament’s legitimacy.

“Under this logic, the next step would be for the Party of Action and Solidarity to cancel elections,” he said, referring to Moldova’s pro-European PAS ruling party.

Alexandru Versinin of the right-wing Democracy at Home party said the restrictions degraded democracy. “Today, they are shutting our mouths. Tomorrow they will decide which journalists can or cannot ask questions,” he said.

Parliament’s chairman, Igor Grosu, ruled Versinin out of order for “rudeness” and opposition members walked out.

For more than 150 years Moldova has been buffeted by European political upheaval and was, in turn, part of the Russian empire, greater Romania and the Soviet Union before securing independence with the 1991 collapse of Soviet rule.

Romanian is enshrined as the sole state language and is increasingly used by young people who seek closer ties with Europe. Russian is still widely spoken and used in the media.

Sandu denounces Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine and accuses Moscow of trying to destabilise her government. Voters in a 2024 referendum narrowly backed EU membership, which Sandu hopes to achieve by 2030.

Moscow accuses her of stirring up anti-Russian feeling.

Igor Talmazan, who presented the regulations for the ruling party, said members were free to speak in “minority languages”.

“But the language to be used in state institutions is our official language – Romanian,” he said.

(Reporting by Alexander Tanas, writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Nia Williams)