Ukraine's Education Ministry stops printing “Moldovan language” textbooks following outcry from Romania

Ukraine's Ministry of Education and Science has announced that it has suspended the printing of "Moldovan language" textbooks after Romania expressed public indignation at this. Source: European Pravda, citing a statement by the Ministry of Education and Science Details: The ministry stressed that officially, Ukraine now uses only the term "Romanian language" instead of "Moldovan language", and all official decisions and documents will be prepared with account of this change.

Commenting on media reports that "Moldovan-language" textbooks were being printed, the Ministry of Education and Science said they had been approved for publication in May, and the main print run had gone to press in the summer before the transition to the term "Romanian language" had taken place. 

"Today, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has halted any further printing of these textbooks.

In addition, a mechanism has been developed for replacing previously printed copies with textbooks in Romanian," the ministry added.

Background:

• Earlier, Romanian media had drawn attention to the fact that the Ukrainian state publishing house Svit was developing textbooks entitled Moldovan Language and Moldovan and World Literature for fifth-grade students in Odesa Oblast.
• Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu expressed irritation at this, recalling the Ukrainian government's pledge to abandon the concept of the "Moldovan language" and recognise Romanian as the only language spoken by the Romanian minority in Ukraine.
• "Moldovan language" is an artificial term coined in the Soviet Union, although there are still many supporters of the "Moldovan language" in Moldova.

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