Representatives of ethnic groups from Moldova intend to constitute an initiative group that will collect signatures in favor of holding a referendum on giving the status of the second official language to Russian. It is an initiative of the “Novaya Gagauzia” movement that is headed by the Mayor of Comrat Nicolae Dudoglo. A national forum to set up the initiative group will take place in Comrat town on September 24, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a news conference on Monday, the movement’s deputy head Nicolae Telpiz said the Gagauz people are concerned about the sociopolitical situation in Moldova, especially about the Romaniazation process. Fiodor Ghelici, the head of the Association “Moldova Mea”, said it is not Russia that wants Russian to become the second official language in Moldova, but 35% of the ethnic minorities that live in Moldova. According to Fiodor Ghelici, if Russian is given the status of official language, the Transnistrian conflict will disappear. The deputy head of the Congress of the Russian community Igor Tuleantsev said many large ethnicities are in favor of such a referendum. “We will make everything possible for this plebiscite to take place. We suggested including the question about language in the September 5 referendum, but the authorities refused. I’m sure that the plebiscite would have been successful if this question had been included,” Tuleantsev said. Another representative of the “Novaya Gagauzia” movement, Vasile Neikovchen said time has come for the Moldovans living in Gagauzia and Transnistria and other settlements to be allowed to decide the issue of the language, which separates them. In order to be able to start collecting signatures, the initiative group must be registered with the Central Election Commission. For the referendum to take place, there must be gathered at least 320 signatures.