The phrase “Moldovan language” will be replaced with “Romanian language” in the texts of all Moldovan laws and regulations, including the Moldovan Constitution. The relevant law “On the implementation of certain decisions of the Constitutional Court (CC)” was adopted Thursday in its second and final reading by the Moldovan Parliament.
The authors refer to three rulings of the CC, including one from December 5, 2013. Given that “acts of the CC, which interpret constitutional texts, have the force of law and are binding,” the authors propose to replace “Moldovan language” with “Romanian language” in the text of the laws.
“In order to implement this law, the Legal Information Resources Agency shall, within 30 days from the date of enactment of this law, ensure the amendment of all legislation of the Republic of Moldova, including the Constitution, in the State Register of Legal Acts,” the document reads.
The law was voted for by deputies from the parliamentary majority of the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), as well as independent deputy Gaic Vartanyan, who left the Socialist Party and joined the National Alternative Movement (MAN) headed by Chisinau Mayor Ion Ceban.
The bill drew criticism from the opposition Bloc of Communists and Socialists. Deputies of the BCS hung several banners on their rostrum during the voting in Parliament. Earlier they said that they would appeal to the Constitutional Court to challenge the law if it is adopted.
According to the Constitution, amendments to the Main Law may be approved by “two-thirds of votes of deputies” “not earlier than six months after the registration of the corresponding draft law and only with a positive conclusion of the CC.” Also, according to the Constitution, “the Constitution can not be reviewed during a state of emergency, siege and martial law.
In turn, the authors of the bill, represented by a group of PAS deputies, believe that it is a “technical execution” of the decisions of the Constitutional Court, and not an amendment to the Constitution.
Till now, according to article 13 of the Constitution of Moldova, the state language of the Republic of Moldova is “the Moldovan language functioning on the basis of Latin script”. Meanwhile, the Academy of Sciences of Moldova admitted that the correct name of the language is “Romanian”. Romanian language is taught in all schools and educational institutions of Moldova since 1992.
Moldova’s National Commission for Emergency Situations has simplified the rules of entry into the country for Ukrainians, the Moldovan newspaper Newsmaker has reported.
It is said that the simplification will affect the entry procedure for the Ukrainians, who will now be able to enter Moldova through the Moldovan-Romanian border and Chisinau airport on the basis of ID-card, internal passport and other identity documents.
The decision of the National Commission comes in addition to the February 24 decision on the entry procedure for Ukrainian citizens, which allowed Ukrainians entering Moldova from Ukraine to enter the country under a simplified procedure.
It is specified that Ukrainians will also be able to leave Moldova for Ukraine based on the same documents.
Mass power outages have begun in Moldova due to damage to the Ukrainian energy system, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Andrei Spynu said.
“Today we have a repeat of the situation of November 15. After the damage to the Ukrainian energy system in the last hour, we have mass power outages across the country. Moldelectrica is working to restore electricity connections,” Spynu wrote Wednesday on social media.
The Commission for Emergency Situations of Moldova has banned cryptocurrency mining in the country, as well as the import of equipment for it.
According to the decision of the Commission on Emergency Situations, this is one of the measures taken in connection with the energy crisis.
Among other measures – the requirement for the owners of the premises to use heating devices so that the temperature in the room during working hours does not exceed 19 degrees, and outside of working hours – 15 degrees. Also, the owners of the premises will have to abandon advertising, decorative and architectural lighting, as well as turn off the fountains.
In addition, indoor escalators must be suspended from 7 am to 11 am and from 6 pm to 11 pm.
At the end of October, Moldova faced an energy crisis after Ukraine stopped exporting 30% of the electricity needed by the country, and the Moldavskaya GRES cannot supply the contracted 70% due to the reduction in gas supplies to Moldova from Gazprom. So far, urgently during the period of shortage, Moldova buys electricity from Romania.
Interruptions are possible in the work of checkpoints on the border with the European Union and Moldova, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine has warned.
“Due to enemy shelling and damage to critical infrastructure facilities in western Ukraine, there may be interruptions in the operation of checkpoints on the border with the EU and Moldova,” the State Border Guard Service said in the Telegram channel on Monday.
From September 28, 2022, the Moldovan GTS operator confirms nominations for natural gas transportation in the form of a virtual reverse (backhaul) at the Grebenniki junction, the GTS Operator of Ukraine said on Friday.
“OGTSU has been working with partners for a long time to implement this opportunity. The long-awaited implementation of the virtual reverse by Moldova opens the way for the transportation of natural gas along the Trans-Balkan corridor in both directions,” said Andrey Prokofiev, head of the department for work with customers of OGTSU services.
The potential capacity of the Trans-Balkan corridor is up to 20 billion cubic meters. m per year. The route opens up the possibility for customers to import gas from LNG terminals in Turkey and Greece.
“The Trans-Balkan Corridor opens up opportunities not only for Ukraine. Benefits through access to new gas markets open up for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe with the ability to store the resource in underground gas storage facilities in Ukraine,” added Olga Belkova, Director for Cooperation with Government Agencies and Organizations.
The GTS operator of Ukraine hopes for a legislative settlement of the possibility of transportation in the form of a backhaul on a long-term basis.
As reported, from August 1, 2022, the OGTSU increased the volume of the possibility of measuring natural gas at the Grebeniki junction (between Ukraine and Moldova) by 1.5 times – from 3.96 to 6.12 million cubic meters. m per day, thereby ensuring that Ukraine fulfills all the prerequisites for launching the Trans-Balkan corridor.
An increase in natural gas measurement volumes in the future opens up more opportunities for both Ukrainian and European traders. Namely, customers of the EU countries will be able to import gas via the Trans-Balkan corridor from LNG terminals in Greece and Turkey through the territory of Ukraine to Hungary, Slovakia, Poland.
