On 2 March 2023, the Moldovan parliament voted to replace the phrases "Moldovan language", "state language" and "official language" in Moldovan legislation with the phrase "Romanian language". The change was presented not as a constitutional change, but only a technical one, as it would implement the 2013 decision of the Constitutional Court of Moldova. This change was supported by the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity and was strongly opposed by the Bloc of Communists and Socialists.[33][34] The Academy of Sciences of Moldova also supported this decision.[35] The bill was approved on its second and final reading on 16 March.[36][37] This attracted criticism from Russia. Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, claimed that "the Romanian language should be renamed to Moldovan, and not the opposite".[38] Romanian foreign minister Aurescu replied to this by saying, "This so-called Moldovan language does not exist, it is an artificial construct, which was created by the Soviet Union and has later been used by Russia for disinformation purposes".[39] To this, Zakharova replied back by saying, "Sr. Bogdan Aurescu never existed either, but in the end he was created. Now it is possible to call him an artificial construct."[40] The president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, promulgated the law on 22 March.[10] It was published on the Monitorul Oficial al Republicii Moldova [ro] ("Official Bulletin of the Republic of Moldova"), a state publication where all promulgated laws are published, on 24 March, thus entering into force.[41] On 30 March, the changes appeared on the Constitution of Moldova.[42]