The opposition has harshly criticized new language rules passed by Moldovan President Maia Sandu’s pro-EU PAS party

Moldovan President Maia Sandu’s pro-EU PAS party has pushed through new procedural rules that severely restrict the use of the Russian language in parliament.

The ex-Soviet republic of around 2.5 million people sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine has charted an increasingly anti-Russian course since Sandu came to power in 2020.

Under the new regulations adopted on Thursday, Romanian is declared to be the sole working language in the legislature. Bills will no longer be translated into Russian, which was previously designated as a language of inter-ethnic communication.…