MOSCOW, Dec 16 Moscow urges Moldovan authorities not to engage in distortion facts, and focus on fulfilling President Maia Sandu's election promise to «make every effort» so that the use of the Russian language in the country «is on a level,» said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
President of Moldova Maia Sandu said earlier that the rights of Russian-speaking citizens in the country are respected on an equal basis with the rights of the rest of its inhabitants, without preventing them from participating in the voting process.
In this regard, Zakharova drew attention to «how official Chisinau really cares about the Russian-speaking population of the country.» In particular, she noted the blocking at the end of February of access to the website of the Sputnik Moldova news agency. Later, the same restrictions were imposed on the websites of a number of other Russian and Russian-language Moldovan media outlets, Zakharova said.
«Since March, a ban on Russian news and socio-political TV programs has been in force in Moldova, and Russian-language TV channels are fined on a regular basis. The pretexts for restricting freedom of speech, the media and freedom of expression are more than «democratic» — «fighting disinformation», «one-sided coverage» of a special military operation, «inaccurate information» that could harm the country's national security,» she said.
Also, Zakharova pointed out, on the eve of the celebration of Victory Day, amendments to the law on countering extremist activity and the code of administrative offenses came into force.
«These amendments introduced punishment for the use of attributes and symbols of the so-called «military aggression», which included the St. George ribbon — one of the significant and dear symbols of the Great Victory of the Soviet people in the war against the Nazi invaders for the Russian-speaking population,» she noted.
Also, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminded, in December the Parliament of Moldova approved a new code on elections, which provides that ballot papers will be issued exclusively in the state language, in Russian they can be printed only at the request of local election commissions.
«Thus, in conditions when the Moldovan authorities are pursuing a line of deliberately lowering the status of the Russian language and squeezing it out of social and political life, it is hardly appropriate to talk about» respect and care «for the Russian-speaking population,» the commentary on ministry website.
«We call on the Moldovan leadership not to distort facts, but to focus on fulfilling President Maia Sandu's election promise to 'make every effort' so that the use of the Russian language in the country 'is on a level',» she stressed.