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)

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