The head of the National Public Association “Consumer Protection” Piotr Guțul said that if Parliament does not adopt the law on the functioning of languages on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, no MP of the current legislature will ever hold again the seat of MP. “The non-adoption of such a law is a state crime against society,” stated the activist.

In a news conference at IPN, Piotr Guțul said that last June he made approaches to the Parliament Speaker, asking to adopt the organic law on the functioning of languages on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. “Moldovan, Russian, Ukrainian, Gagauz and Bulgarian were to be declared official languages,” he said, noting he received no response and thus sent again an application. A copy was also transmitted to Russia’s Embassy in Moldova.

The activist stated that the problem of circulation of languages on the country’s territory was raised not by the Party of Socialists, but by Russian-speaking consumers who face difficulties in communication in courts of law and public institutions.

Association member Vladimir Shitinin spoke in the name of veterans and pensioners. According to him, the constitutional rights of the people in Moldova are violated, primarily the access to information. Many of them don’t know the official language. The legal services are expensive and are practically inaccessible to pensioners. The people cannot use Russian either in courts of law.

Among the problems, the activist mentioned the banking services for collecting social benefits. The instructions are published only in the official language and this is a violation, according to him. The situation is similar in the case of chemical products on sale, including toxic ones. As they cannot read the instructions in a language they know, the consumers can endanger their health.