Moscow Drops Plans for Foreign Language Requirement for Secondary School Graduation

Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

(Paul Goble – Window On Eurasia – Staunton, Jan. 4, 2021) To graduate from secondary schools, Russians will still have to pass tests in Russian; but they will not be required to do so in foreign languages like English, German, French, Spanish and Chinese, the education ministry has announced (publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001202012240006?index=1&rangeSize=1). That change effectively ends the effort of former education minister, […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Ukrainization should be ‘quite mild’ – Zelensky’s envoy to Verkhovna Rada” – Interfax

Verkhovna Rada File Photo

KYIV. July 1 (Interfax) – A Ukrainian presidential envoy to the Verkhovna Rada, and candidate number two on the Servant of the People party election list, Ruslan Stefanchuk, believes that one needs to fight for the Ukrainian language offering “quality, but not harassment.” “As for the law on language, there are several positions. Firstly, the Ukrainian language is a state […]

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Interfax: Moscow accuses Kyiv of forced Ukrainization policy

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

MOSCOW. Oct 18 (Interfax) – The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on international human rights institutions to influence Kyiv over Ukraine’s discriminatory laws regarding the use of the state language in education and the media. “We call on relevant international human rights institutions, including, primarily, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human […]

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NEWSWATCH: “New Fighting in Ukraine’s Language War. If Kyiv draws new battle lines in the country’s language war, Moscow is ready to restart its side of this conflict.” – Carnegie Europe/ Thomas de Waal

Verkhovna Rada File Photo

“… Ukraine’s language wars are restarting. A bill requiring 75 percent of national television broadcasts to be in Ukrainian has just been passed by the Rada. It follows a very unpopular move by … Poroshenko to ban Russian-language social media websites …. Next up … is draft legislation that seeks to ensure ‘the functioning and use of Ukrainian as a state language in all spheres of […]

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Ukraine Should Shift from Cyrillic to Latin Script, Former Verkhovna Rada Deputy Says

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, March 21, 2016) To solidify its break from a Russia-dominated space, Ukraine should shift from the Russian-based Cyrillic alphabet Moscow imposed on it to a script based on the Latin alphabet used by European countries, according to Aleksandr Donyi, the head of the Last Barricade social organization and a former deputy of […]

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NEWSWATCH: How the Ukrainian Diaspora Sees the Homeland

Mercator Projection Satellite Image of Earth

[“Ukrainian Politics Abroad: How the Ukrainian Diaspora Sees the Homeland” – Foreign Affairs – foreignaffairs.com – Olena Lennon – March 17, 2015] Professor Olena Lennon, from the University of New Haven, writes on the experiences and attitudes of those of Ukrainian origin or heritage in the United States. Points of interest include perspectives on history, Russia, Europe, and the Russian and Ukrainian languages. The diaspora is distinctive in several […]

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Calls for Latinization of Ukrainian Alphabet on ‘Civilizational Grounds’ Anger Russians

Maidan Square file photo

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 14, 2014) Renewed calls by some Ukrainians to shift the alphabet of their national language from one based on Cyrillic characters to a Latin-based script in order to escape from the influence of Moscow and be closer to the West has infuriated Russian nationalists, who say that there is no chance […]

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Kyivans Now Speaking Ukrainian, Underlining Russia’s Loss of Ukraine, Mirsky Says

Maidan Square file photo

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 2, 2014) In 1991, Ukrainians separated themselves “not from Russia but from Moscow,” as shown by the continuing willingness of most to speak Russian, historian Georgy Mirsky says. Indeed, at that time, “no one except Bandera supporters separated themselves off from Russia or from the Russian people.” But now, the Russian […]

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Harvard Study Shows Russian-speaking Ukrainians Backing Kyiv

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Voice of America – Doug Bernard – October 8, 2014) [Study here http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2501761. “Russia, Ukraine, and the West: Social Media Sentiment in the Euromaidan Protests”] A new study conducted at Harvard University suggests that Russian-speaking Ukrainians may be significantly more supportive of Kyiv’s standoff against Moscow and the pro-Russian separatists than has previously been reported. The study, authored by researcher […]

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Poroshenko: Ukrainian will remain sole state language in Ukraine

Maidan Square file photo

(Interfax – July 3, 2014) Proposed constitutional amendments stipulate that Ukrainian will remain the sole state language in Ukraine, the country’s President Petro Poroshenko said in parliament on Thursday. “We have delivered on our promise to give additional powers in language issues to local authorities. Article 10 of the Constitution remains unchanged – Ukrainian is the one-and-only state language in […]

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The Russian language in Ukraine: Cultural bridge or divide

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yulia Kudinova, special to RBTH – April 24, 2014) As Ukraine is tearing itself apart, it is also facing an artificially fuelled competition between Russian and Ukrainian, two languages that are nevertheless linguistically very similar. Benjamin Franklin once wrote: “Tongue double brings trouble”. That saying might have resonated with the members of Ukraine’s […]

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RIA Novosti: Kiev Regime Backs Up on Russian Language Ban

Maidan Square file photo

KIEV, April 17 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian authorities are open to discussing granting Russian the status of an official language in the country’s southeastern regions, the acting head of the ruling political party in parliament said Thursday. “We will regulate this issue in a law that will stipulate the right of regions with a large proportion of a minority population […]

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Ukraine PM says authorities against abolishing language law

Maidan Square file photo

DONETSK. April 11 (Interfax) – Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said that the country’s new authorities have no plans to abolish the July 3, 2012 law that regulates Ukraine’s language policy. “No one is going to abolish the Kolesnychenko-Kyvalov law,” Yatsenyuk said during a visit to the Donetsk region on Friday. “It is a law that advocates the interests […]

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Ukraine abolishes law on languages of minorities, including Russian

(Interfax – February 23, 2014) Ukraine’s Verkhovna has abolished the law on the foundations of the state language policy adopted on July 3, 2012, by 232 out of 334 votes. In July 2012 Verkhovna Rada passed the law initiated by the Party of Regions. In August Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych signed it into law and bound the Cabinet to set […]

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Over Half of Ukrainians Oppose Russian as State Language – Poll

File Photo of Ukrainians with Ukrainian Flag in Public Square Near Tower with Golden Dome

(RIA Novosti – KIEV, October 16, 2013) ­ More than a half of Ukrainians are against the idea of making Russian the country’s second state language, according to a survey released by an independent Ukrainian pollster on Wednesday. Sociological Group “Rating” said 43 percent of respondents are in favor of the idea, while 51 percent are against. Five percent said […]

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