The President of Moldova said that more than 90% of the country’s residents speak Russian.
The President of Moldova Igor Dodon assured that he will guarantee the protection of the Russian language in case of his victory in the forthcoming second round of the presidential elections on November 15.
“In Moldova more than 90% of the country’s population speak Russian, and this is very good. We have to continue to protect and defend it, and I understand people’s concerns on this issue. They are worried by the statements of my opponent Maya Sandu”, – Dodon said in a video message distributed on Friday on social networks. He said he considered insincere promises to defend the Russian language made by the leader of the Action and Solidarity Party, Sandu, during the election campaign.
“She remembered the Russian language in recent weeks because she needs your votes. And before that, she thought Russian was a ‘foreign’ language”, – the president remarked. He recalled that when Sandu was the minister of education, Russian, which is defined in the law as a language of international communication, became an optional language and English was made compulsory, and a number of Russian schools were closed.
For her part, Sandu called the accusations against her regarding the language “scary”.
“No one intends to close Russian schools or limit the scope of the Russian language. I guarantee full respect for your rights, including the right to use your native language and to be taught in your own language”, – she said earlier in a video message.
According to the Central Election Commission, in the first round on November 1, none of the presidential candidates was able to get more than 50% of the votes, so to determine the winner will need a second round on November 15. Sandu, who received 36.1% of the votes, and Dodon, who received 32.6% of the votes, will take part in it.