James Pettit, the American ambassador in the Republic of Moldova, has inflamed the spirits on both sides of the Prut when he asserted in an interview that “Moldova is not Romania” and implied that the two countries have no common identity and should abandon the idea of their reunification. This article presents a transcription of the interview, along with its translation into Romanian. The article also tackles the use of the words “Moldova” (and “Moldovans”, respectively) which were misinterpreted by Romanian analysts, as in the Romanian language there is no lexical distinction between Moldova and Moldavia, both of them being designated by one word: “Moldova”. In order to differentiate between Moldavia, the Romanian province, and the Republic of Moldova, Romanians use “Moldova” and “Republica Moldova”, respectively.
Ambasadorul american la Chişinău, James Pettit, a comis, fără îndoială o gafă (de fapt mai multe, la o analiză mai atentă) în recentul interviu acordat televiziunii Moldova 1; asta în cazul în care chiar a fost o gafă şi nu cumva SUA au decis că Republica Moldova trebuie să rămână un “stat-tampon” între UE şi Rusia şi au uitat să-i anunţe şi pe politicienii noştri.