Sir, Your reporters covering the Moldovan protests have unfortunately fallen prey to propaganda that misrepresents the cultural, political and historical realities in Moldova.
According to the report (April 9), “most Moldovans speak Moldovan, a language closely linked to Romanian, but a big minority speak Russian and other Slav languages”. Moldovan is, in fact, Romanian. The news broadcasts on Romanian and Moldovan television are, linguistically, identical. The CIA and the International Organisation for Migration describe Moldovan as “virtually the same as the Romanian language”. This insidious misrepresentation, begun by Stalin in order to pave the way for the incorporation of Moldova into the Soviet Union, seeks to widen the gulf politically between Romania and Moldova and to draw Moldova further into the Russian sphere of influence.
The article did not say, after all, that “a big minority speak a language closely linked to Russian”. A big minority speak Russian, just as most Moldovans speak Romanian.
It is, of course, up to the citizens of Moldova to determine the nature of their relationship with Romania, Russia, and the European Union. But the cultural and political realities in Moldova must at least be accurately represented.
The Financial Times Limited 2009
