The Russian language in Moldova is deprived of the status of a language of interethnic communication. The Constitutional Court in Chisinau declared the law passed by the parliament a month ago unconstitutional.

Graffiti in the Romanian language in Chisinau

The Constitutional Court of Moldova has declared the law on the special status of the Russian language as a language of interethnic communication unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court ruled this on Thursday, January 21, considering the request of three opposition deputies.

According to Constitutional Court President Domnica Manole, Article 2 of the law on the functioning of languages in Moldova, adopted by Parliament on December 16, 2020, "gives the Russian language a privileged status in relation to other national minority languages in Moldova," which is not provided for in the Moldovan constitution. Based on the 2014 census, the CC noted that there are areas in Moldova where, for example, the Ukrainian language is more prevalent than Russian, and in some areas Russian is used by less than three percent of the population. "Notwithstanding this, rising to the level of a language of interethnic communication, it acquires the status of a quasi-official language on a par with (the state language. - Ed.) Romanian," Manole told reporters.

The law on the functioning of languages in Moldova provides for granting Russian the status of a language of inter-ethnic communication and the possibility to address public authorities in Russian. This law also foresees punishment for officials who refuse to answer requests in Russian.

Finding the new law unconstitutional, the Constitutional Court agreed with opposition lawmakers who argued that it violates the rights of most citizens and diminishes the role of the state language.

The Constitutional Court's decision is binding and not subject to appeal. The validity of the said law ceases from the moment of the Constitutional Court's decision.