Several hundred people protested in Bălți on January 31 against the Constitutional Court’s judgment by which the law on the functioning of languages on the territory of the Republic of Moldova was declared unconstitutional. The protest involved Socialist MPs Alexandr Nesterovschi and Alexandr Usatyi, IPN reports.

The protesters carried placards and chanted such slogans as “Moldova – My Homeland! Russian – My Language!”, “Restore Russian”, “Take your hands off Russian”, “Moldovan, official language”, “We are Moldovans”, “We are not a Romanian colony”, “CC, you are not right”, “Renato, you are responsible”, and others.

On its official website, the Party of Socialists said similar protests on January 30 were mounted in Ceadâr-Lunga, while last week also in Basarabeasca, Anenii Noi, Ocnița, Briceni.

Sources in Bălți, who asked for anonymity, have told IPN that the January 31 protest in Bălți involved about 400 persons, between 1:00pm and 1:45pm. The protesters marched from “Alecu Russo” State University up to the Bălți mayor’s office.  “Some of the protesters were brought by minibus,” stated the sources.

The law on the functioning of languages on the territory of the Republic of Moldova was given a final reading and adopted by the MPs of the Party of Socialists and “For Moldova” Platform, which includes the MPs of the Shor Party, on December 16, 2020. The parliamentary opposition, which was absent from the assembly hall when the bill was put to the vote, said this and other laws were adopted furtively, with serious violations of the regulations, and are toxic for the Moldovan citizens.

On January 21, 2021, following challenges filed by opposition MPs, the law on the functioning of languages on the territory of the Republic of Moldova was declared unconstitutional.