“It is absolutely imperceptible for a Russian official to try and teach us who we are and what language we speak, showing a total lack of respect for our people.” This is the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ comment on the statements made by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova about the language spoken in the Republic of Moldova, IPN reports.

Moldova’s MFA said that Maria Zakharova’s statements “cannot be taken seriously” because “she is not an expert in linguistics”.

“We recall that in 2003 Maria Zakharova defended a doctoral thesis entitled “Transforming the concept of symbolism into the celebration of the traditional New Year in modern China”. We assume that in terms of the peculiarities of the celebration of the New Year, she is unbeatable. Any other ”'historical parallels” drawn by Maria Zakharova are more like hallucinatory delirium,” reads the Foreign Ministry’s statement.

The Romanian language is the official language of the Republic of Moldova. The phrase “Moldovan language” all over the legislation of the Republic of Moldova was replaced with “Romanian language”, the law being declared constitutional.

In an interview with the Russian news agency TASS, Maria Zakharova said that the Moldovan language will continue to exist for many people living in Moldova even after the current President leaves.