Ukraine’s ruling party has triggered protests with a move to upgrade the official role of the Russian language – a sensitive issue in the former Soviet republic and one which opponents say will effectively split the country.
A draft law by President Viktor Yanukovich’s Regions Party rekindled an emotional debate in Ukraine, where Russian is the mother tongue of most of the people in the east and south, while Ukrainian – the state language – predominates in parts of the centre and in the west.
Fists flew among deputies in parliament this week and 150 people rallied outside the parliament building yesterday, many with slogans in defence of Ukrainian language rights.
“Nobody is threatening the Russian language,” said Yarema Goyan, a writer, who was protesting. “It’s Ukrainian that has to be saved. This is no joke – yesterday there were fights in parliament but tomorrow there will be fights on the streets.”
Opponents of the move regard use of Ukrainian as a touchstone of sovereignty and say a growing encroachment of Russian will only keep Ukraine in Russia’s sphere of influence.
