Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, has criticized Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, after he said that the Moldovan language does not exist.
“Minister Aurescu declared that the Moldovan language was created artificially during the Soviet period. Mr. Bogdan Aurescu never existed either, but in the end he was created. It is now possible to call it an artificial construction”, she said.
Zakharova again presented the theory supported by the Kremlin, according to which the Moldovan language is older than Romanian, which is only a dialect. The discussions arose after the parliament in Chisinau adopted a law establishing that Romanian is the official language of the state.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs declared, a few days ago, before the meeting of the Council of Foreign Affairs (CAE) in Brussels, that the Moldovan language does not exist, being only an artificial construction created by the Soviet Union. His statement came after the reaction of his Russian counterpart regarding Romanian as the official language in Moldova.
“This so-called Moldovan language does not exist, it is an artificial construction, which was created by the Soviet Union and was later used by Russia for disinformation purposes,” said Bogdan Aurescu.
“What I can tell you is that, when this decision was taken by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, which is a historic decision, Romania welcomed this very important step, because it restores the historical truth about the name of the official language in the Republic Moldova and, at the same time, it is a sign of the maturity of Moldovan society and its adherence to European values”, he added.
Republic of Moldova retorts to Zakharova’s attacks: We don’t accept history lessons
“It is the sovereign right of the Republic of Moldova to decide what to call the language in which its citizens speak”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration from Chisinau reacted on Wednesday in a comment to the statements made by the spokeswoman of the Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, regarding the language spoken in the Republic of Moldova, informs Deschide.md.
“The statements of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry represent an interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Moldova. It is our sovereign right to decide what we call the language we speak and we do not accept history lessons. We reiterate the call to the Russian side not to admit interference in the internal affairs of our country,” the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.