The national anthem of Moldova was translated into Russian and published in the Russian iteration of the music education textbook for the 5th grade. In a reaction, the Ministry of Education and Research says that its approval procedure only extends to the Romanian version of textbooks, leaving publishers responsible for the Russian translations.

As the Ministry noted, the law says that the national anthem is performed in Romanian. The Ministry said that it will seek clarifications from the publishing company in question.

“The intention of the publishing company to give Russian-speaking children the opportunity to understand the message of the national anthem should not hinder compliance with the law. The Ministry thanks the people who report issues found in textbooks and undertakes to use all the necessary instruments to ensure the quality of the didactic materials”, the Ministry said in a statement.

Recently, a page from the music education textbook in the Russian version for the 5th grade was published on social networks, where the lyrics of the national anthem appear fully translated into Russian.