The law adopted last year that replaces the phrases “Moldovan language”, “state language”, “official language” and “mother tongue” with “Romanian language” across the national legislation has been declared constitutional on Monday.

The law was challenged at the Constitutional Court by the Communist-Socialist MPs Zinaida Greceanîi, Vlad Batrîncea and Vladimir Voronin. They argued in particular that the law amounted to a revision of the Constitution and therefore had to follow a strict procedure, which requires either a supermajority in Parliament or a national referendum.

The Court recalled that in its decision of December 5, 2013, it asserted the prevalence of the name “Romanian language”, as worded in the Declaration of Independence, over the name of “Moldovan language” used in Article 13 of the Constitution. The Court also declared later that the initiative to edit Article 13 of the Constitution was not ordinary, but rather technical, arising from the obligation to enforce the December 2013 decision.

The Constitutional Court subsequently reiterated that the official language of the Republic of Moldova is indeed Romanian on a number of other occasions as well, last time in January 2021.

The decision issued on Monday is irreversible and enters into force immediately.