Several civil society organizations and activists from Moldova have launched a petition calling for the cancellation of an event scheduled in Chisinau, with the Israeli writer of Russian origin, Dina Rubina.
The petition comes after public statements made by the writer have surfaced, such as that Israel “has the right to dissolve Palestinians in hydrochloric acid” and to turn Gaza into “a parking lot”, reports newsmaker.md. The statements are deemed as hate speech and incompatible with an event held in a publicly funded cultural institution.
The signatories also invoke Article 346 of the Penal Code of the Republic of Moldova, which penalizes incitement to hatred or violence against a category of people, and the Law on Freedom of Expression, which specifies that “guarantees regarding freedom of expression do not extend to speeches that incite hatred or violence”.
Members of the ПРОчтение initiative, who organize the event, specified in a public statement that a fragment of the writer’s interview was published separately by a journalist, who later apologized for the situation.
The Ministry of Culture asserts that the event with Rubina cannot be cancelled and there is no basis for such a decision. The representatives of the authority further reported that it is about a meeting held by a private company, and in the case of applying restrictions, compensation could be demanded.
At the same time, on April 10, the Ministry of Culture announced that concerts by the Russian singer Diana Arbenina, the Ukrainian artist Oleg Vinnik, and the comedian Nurlan Saburov are banned in Moldova. Organizers were warned that if they do not cancel the events, the targeted celebrities could be banned from entering Moldova.
In February 2026, the Ministry of Culture sent a circular to all impresario institutions, informing them that they must receive approval from the authority to bring foreign artists, especially from the Commonwealth of Independent States, to the Republic of Moldova.