The point is that there is no such thing as a “Moldovan language”. It is an artificial creation invented by the Soviet authorities to divide the nation in two. The word “Moldova” means not only a country, but also a region, most of which is in Romania. In fact, historical Moldova was divided into two parts, separated by the Prut River: the western one with the capital in Iasi (today belonging to Romania) and the eastern one with the capital in Kishinev (formerly occupied by Russia, then the Soviets, and after the collapse of the USSR constituting a separate state ). In fact, Moldovans speak Romanian, having been part of the Romanian ethnos for centuries.
This is also to be the new provision in the constitution: the official language is Romanian. An additional element of the division used by Moscow was the imposition of the part of Moldova it had conquered in the 1920s in the Cyrillic alphabet instead of the Latin alphabet. It was only in 1989, freeing itself from Soviet influence, that the Republic of Moldova returned to the Latin alphabet. In the declaration of independence proclaimed in 1991, Romanian was mentioned as the state language. Nevertheless, when the constitution was adopted in 1994, it included that Soviet artificial creation, which was the “Moldovan language”. This name was pushed through thanks to the growing Russian and communist influences.
It was also supported by a significant group of Moldovans, emphasizing their historical separateness from the Romanians (similarly, there are Silesians in Poland who, although they speak Polish, feel that they are a separate nation from Poles). Undoubtedly, the latest parliamentary act distances the country from Russia and brings it closer to Romania, and thus to NATO and the European Union. Is it then possible to unite a divided nation? Still in 1994, during the referendum, over 94 percent. Moldovan residents opposed the creation of a common state with Romania. In 2021, however, the idea of unification was supported by about 44 percent in opinion polls. citizens. So it’s not an unrealistic prospect.
Commentary published in the magazine “Kurier Wileński” No. 10(29) 11-17/03/2023