The Russian language in Ukraine is now “legal”

Yesterday Yanukovych finally signed the law on the fundamentals of state language policy. It seems that after this, in 13 regions of Ukraine, where at least 10 percent of residents consider Russian to be their native language, it will acquire official regional status. What this status will actually give now, strictly speaking, is not clear, but it is better to have at least some status than not to have it at all. In addition, taking away this status is a much more difficult matter than not giving it at all, and the emergence of regional languages ​​(not only Russian) is still an official recognition of the fact that Ukraine is not a state in which the state language is native for the vast majority of citizens.

Now, the previously minor question about the native language during the population census is turning into a key one. I have great doubts that in 14 (!) Ukrainian regions there are not even ten percent of residents who consider Russian their native language. I think there is a certain deceit in these data. I wonder if it is possible to give Russian regional status in any of these regions if, relatively speaking, the signatures of 10 percent of “registered” citizens are collected.

The head of the parliament of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Vladimir Konstantinov, at a rally held today in Simferopol regarding the adoption of the law, said that “by signing the law, the president put an end to our work to ensure the linguistic rights of citizens.” But it is obvious that the struggle for the rights of the Russian language (and against it, of course) will not end with the signing of the law. And Yanukovych has so far put not a full stop, but a question mark.