Taranu Called Moldova’s Russian-Speaking Community a “Deficient Ethnic Element” of Society

Historian and political commentator Anatol Taranu stated on the program Secretele puterii on Jurnal TV that anti-European sentiment in the Republic of Moldova is predominantly found among the Russian-speaking segment of the population. According to him, this attitude has been consistent and has manifested itself over the past decades, rupor.md reports. “If we look at Moldovans as a whole, roughly half are pro-European and the other half are anti-European. But among those we conventionally refer to as Russian speakers, the majority are anti-European,” Taranu said. He emphasized that this situation is the result not only of the policies of pro-Russian authorities in the past but also of the insufficient attention paid by non-pro-Russian governments to strengthening the national identity of the majority of the population. “Why, after 35 years, are we still diluting the identity of the majority? It doesn’t matter whether we consider ourselves Moldovans or Romanians – we are both Romanians and Moldovans,” Taranu noted. Commenting on the claim that Russian speakers are less likely to demonstrate critical thinking, the political analyst pointed out that such a perception may indicate the presence of a “low-quality ethnic segment” within society, which he described as a “worrying symptom.”