Moldavian Language Made Official : Law Retains Limited Use of Russian to Appease Minorities

Moldavian leaders today declared their native tongue the official language of the republic but agreed to allow the use of Russian in some circumstances, a compromise aimed at appeasing Russian-speaking minorities.

The Moldavian Supreme Soviet, meeting in the republic’s capital, Kishinev, approved the language law overwhelmingly, a Moldavian activist and a reporter for the republic’s official news agency said by telephone.

The initial proposal to make Moldavian the official language caused widespread strikes and protests by ethnic Russians and other Russian-speaking ethnic groups in the southern republic bordering Romania.

Forced to Speak Russian

The choice of language is an important issue for many of the diverse Soviet ethnic groups. Many have felt they were forced to adopt Russian even though their native tongues are vastly different and represent a distinct cultural heritage.

Vasily Nestase, a member of a pro-Moldavian nationalist group known as the People’s Front, called the move “a first victory” for ethnic Moldavians.

The bill was approved 321 to 11, said a reporter for ATEM, Moldavia’s official news agency.

As the official language, Moldavian is to be used for government documents and meetings and commerce.

The same legislation also contained a provision to placate Russian speakers: a declaration that Russian is the language “of interethnic relations of the peoples of the U.S.S.R,” apparently sanctioning the use of Russian in communications among different ethnic groups.

The original draft of the legislation said Moldavian must be used for everyday life within the republic, angering the Russian speakers.

The compromise proposed Wednesday by Moldavia’s Communist Party chief, Semen Grossu--at the urging of President Mikhail S. Gorbachev--said Moldavian would be the language of officials and documents, but Russian would be the everyday tongue for contact among all ethnic groups within the republic.

Also today, the Moldavian Supreme Soviet approved legislation restoring the Latin alphabet to the Moldavian language. The Cyrillic alphabet, like that used in Russian, was imposed by dictator Josef Stalin after he annexed Moldavia from neighboring Romania in 1940.

Stalin imposed Cyrillic to back his claim that Romanians and Moldavians are two distinct nationalities.

Moldavia previously had no language law. Russian traditionally has been the tongue for government affairs and is commonly used in commerce, which upsets native Moldavians.