At some point I need to write a post on this topic directly. As with so many language things here the "the language of interethnic communication" is not a good formulation - it is an explicit Russian phrasing that they try and jam into the constitutions of former Soviet republics all the time. Nominally, they mean it as what it sounds like. Inevitably, the legal formulation they use makes it a first among equals.
Legality and geopolitics aside, most people in Moldova over the age of 30 speak Russian well and many under that age speak it passably. In the 14 years I've been here the space to speak Russian in public settings - aka ordering at a restaurant or checking out at a supermarket got more constrained in the predominantly Romanian speaking areas (such as Chisinau) up through 2022. People spoke it, but increasingly frowned on people who did not do simple things in Romanian. The whole time it was never an issue for a group of Russian speaking friends to speak amongst themselves in public - it was more about which language took precidence in cross-language interactions.
In parallel, even in Balti and more Russian speaking areas there was a push to learn Romanian - not only among the young but even the older population who wanted economic or political opportunities nationwide.
From Feburary 2022 that first trend reversed and Russian has increasingly been treated very respectfully in public interactions because often the Russian speaker was a Ukrainian refugee. That has made Russian more accepted in cross-language interactions. At the same time, the push to learn Romanian as a future proofing investment has accellerated and many Ukrainian refugees have also learned Romanian which has somewhat shamed the local population that didn't already.
So it is a complex interplay, but rarely one that sees public animosity - especially after the outbreak of war.
Hope that helps provide a bit of context! I really do need to write a piece on it but given the sensitivity of the issue I might invite some guest authors to contribute. We'll see.
On the topic of language in Moldova, is Russian ever really used as "the language of interethnic communication" anymore, in 2026?
Hi Benjamin,
At some point I need to write a post on this topic directly. As with so many language things here the "the language of interethnic communication" is not a good formulation - it is an explicit Russian phrasing that they try and jam into the constitutions of former Soviet republics all the time. Nominally, they mean it as what it sounds like. Inevitably, the legal formulation they use makes it a first among equals.
Legality and geopolitics aside, most people in Moldova over the age of 30 speak Russian well and many under that age speak it passably. In the 14 years I've been here the space to speak Russian in public settings - aka ordering at a restaurant or checking out at a supermarket got more constrained in the predominantly Romanian speaking areas (such as Chisinau) up through 2022. People spoke it, but increasingly frowned on people who did not do simple things in Romanian. The whole time it was never an issue for a group of Russian speaking friends to speak amongst themselves in public - it was more about which language took precidence in cross-language interactions.
In parallel, even in Balti and more Russian speaking areas there was a push to learn Romanian - not only among the young but even the older population who wanted economic or political opportunities nationwide.
From Feburary 2022 that first trend reversed and Russian has increasingly been treated very respectfully in public interactions because often the Russian speaker was a Ukrainian refugee. That has made Russian more accepted in cross-language interactions. At the same time, the push to learn Romanian as a future proofing investment has accellerated and many Ukrainian refugees have also learned Romanian which has somewhat shamed the local population that didn't already.
So it is a complex interplay, but rarely one that sees public animosity - especially after the outbreak of war.
Hope that helps provide a bit of context! I really do need to write a piece on it but given the sensitivity of the issue I might invite some guest authors to contribute. We'll see.