Romanian Language Day in Moldova: a victory for the national liberation movement
Moldova is celebrating 34 years since the return to the Latin script, an event considered to be the first major victory of the national liberation movement that advocated for independence, freedom, and a return to national values. The struggle for the Romanian language did not end even after the proclamation of the Independence of the Republic of Moldova and it only obtained official status a few months ago, and the issue of the name of the official language still causes disputes in society.
Aspirations for the Romanian language and the Latin alphabet laid the foundation for the national liberation movement at the end of the 1980s. Until then, in the former Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, the official name of the language was Moldovan, based on the Cyrillic alphabet, and the use of the Latin alphabet in schools, magazines, or books was considered a violation of the law, even more serious than unauthorized demonstrations.
The Latin script returned in force after the Great National Assembly on August 27, 1989. Four days later, on August 31, the Supreme Soviet, the Parliament at the time, declared the Moldovan language as the state language, based on the Latin script.
"The language of the people who gave the name to the republic, the Moldovan language, will become the state language, will occupy its place in all political, social, economic, and cultural spheres, and will be the language of communication on the territory of the republic," said then-Supreme Soviet President Mircea Snegur.
The vote was possible thanks to intellectuals, writers, but also the massive wave of support from ordinary people, who took to the streets to demand their right to return to the Latin script and to the Romanian language.
The name of the spoken language, however, has been a source of division in society in the 32 years of independence, causing more tensions in Moldova. While the role of the Romanian language was stipulated in the Declaration of Independence, voted in August 1991, the Constitution adopted in 1994 by a parliamentary majority composed almost entirely of former Soviet nomenklatura, introduced the name of the Moldovan language. Subsequently, at the end of 2013, the Constitutional Court ruled that the text of the Declaration of Independence prevails over that of the Constitution.
The Romanian language only officially obtained the role of state language this year, after the parliamentary majority voted to replace "the Moldovan language" with the phrase "the Romanian language" in all laws, including the Constitution.
Differences over the official name of the language have continued after this decision, but many experts believe that it was an important step to put an end once and for all to these debates that have marked the first three decades of independence of the Republic of Moldova.
