“I want to speak about authentic democracy and I do not take lessons from those who have nothing in common with democracy,” President Maia Sandu said, referring to the threats concerning the deterioration of the Moldovan-Russian relations that came from Moscow after Chisinau decided that the ballots will no longer be printed in Russian. The official denied the accusations made by the spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova, saying the Russian citizens and the Russian speakers are not discriminated in Moldova, IPN reports.

Recently, Maria Zakharova said Chisinau’s decision to print ballots in Romanian affects the interests of the Russian and Russophile population in Moldova. President Sandu replied that all the country’s citizens are protected equally.

“I’m not interested. I do not read and do not intend to comment on the statements of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Threats were made earlier too and this is not the first experience of the kind. This is Moscow’s understanding of how foreign policy should be pursued. We are a free country that wants to remain part of the free world and, respectively, to take sovereign decisions. We will further do what’s best form the citizens. The Russian speakers in this country are not in danger. They are respected as all the citizens of the Republic of Moldova are. We promised we will respect everyone and will take care of everyone’s safety. The rest are false accusations and attempts to destabilize the situation in the Republic of Moldova,” Maia Sandu stated in the talk show “Emphasis on Today” on TVR Moldova channel.

Also, Maria Zakharova warned the Moldovan authorities to act reasonably and not to take actions that would further aggravate the tense situation in the country, which affects the bilateral relations with Russia.

“We are a country that believes in democracy. We created and will yet create conditions for the people to be able to vote freely. The electoral process is not in danger and impediments to prevent the people from voting are not created. I want to speak about authentic democracy and do not want to take lessons from those who have nothing in common with democracy,” stated Maia Sandu.

In accordance with the new Electoral Code, the ballots for elections in the Republic of Moldova will be printed in Romania and can be also printed in Russian in particular conditions, namely to facilitate the participation in elections of ethnic minorities, at the request of the electoral bodies of the given constituency.