Moldovan Presidents On The Language and Identity of Moldovans
Mircea Snegur, the first Moldovan President (1992–1996), a somewhat versatile supporter of the common Romanian-Moldovan ethnic and linguistic identity
"În suflet eram (şi sunt) mai român decât mulţi dintre învinuitori."
"In my soul I was (and am) more Romanian than most of my accusers."
Vladimir Voronin, President of Moldova (2001–2009), an adversary of the common Romanian-Moldovan ethnic identity, acknowledged at times the existence of a common language.
«Limba moldovenească este de fapt mama limbii române. S-o numeşti română înseamnă să înşeli istoria şi să-ţi nedreptăţeşti propria mamă.»
"Moldovan is in fact the mother of the Romanian language. To call it Romanian is to betray history and to commit injustice to your own mother."
"Vorbim aceeaşi limba, chiar dacă o numim diferit."
"We speak the same language, even though we call it differently."
Mihai Ghimpu, speaker of the Moldovan Parliament and interim president (2009–2010), a staunch supporter of the common Romanian-Moldovan ethnic identity:
"Dar ce am câştigat având la conducere oameni care ştiau că limba e română şi că noi suntem români, dar au recunoscut acest adevăr doar după ce au plecat de la guvernare? Eu nu am venit să manipulez cetăţenii, ci să le spun adevărul."
"What have we gained having as leaders people who knew that the language is Romanian and that we are Romanians, but acknowledged this truth only after they left office? I have not come to manipulate the citizens, but to tell them the truth."
Read more about this topic: Controversy Over Linguistic And Ethnic Identity In Moldova
Famous quotes containing the words presidents, language and/or identity:
“Governments can err, Presidents do make mistakes, but the immortal Dante tells us that divine justice weighs the sins of the cold-blooded and the sins of the warm-hearted in different scales. Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the constant omission of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“Please stop using the word “Negro.”... We are the only human beings in the world with fifty-seven variety of complexions who are classed together as a single racial unit. Therefore, we are really truly colored people, and that is the only name in the English language which accurately describes us.”
—Mary Church Terrell (1863–1954)
“There is a terrible blindness in the love that wants only to accommodate. It’s not only to do with omissions and half-truths. It implants a lack of being in the speaker and robs the self of an identity without which it is impossible for one to grow close to another.”
—Alexander Theroux (b. 1940)