May 2006

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RUSSIAN LANGUAGE OFFICIAL STATUS OPPOSED BY UKRANIAN GOVERNMENT

May 2006 – Even though Ukrainian became the country's sole official language after Ukraine declared independence in 1991, two local administrations with a predominantly Russian-speaking population –the eastern region of Luhansk and the city of Sevastopol, in the Crimea– have tried to elevate the status of Russian. The pro-Moscow Party of Regions, which won the most votes in last month's parliamentary election, campaigned on a promise to make Russian a second state language.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko considers regional administrations have overstepped their authority by reinstating Russian as an official language. The Ukrainian president's press secretary Irina Gerashchenko recently said that “the president expresses his deep concern over these displays of sovereignty, and believes the local councils have exceeded their authorities in making these decisions”. Yushchenko's deputy chief-of-staff, Anatoliy Matviyenko, said on April 28 that the moves breach Ukraine's constitution, which states that Ukrainian is the sole state language. Meanwhile, Russia is closely watching the issue. The recent pronouncements by Ukrainian officials on the Russian language status fail to meet the international commitments of Ukraine, Chairman of the State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots Andrei Kokoshin said. He also stated that the regional status of the Russian language corresponds to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages the Ukrainian parliament has ratified.

According to some analysts such as Stephen Velychenko, from University of Toronto, granting Russian an official status in the country would reinforce the old imperial Russian tie and would impede the creation of new ties with the EU and the rest of the world, which speaks English.