In Ukraine, Official Quits to Protest Bill on Russian

[alp227]

Source: NY Times

The chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament resigned Wednesday after refusing to sign a contentious bill that would allow local and regional governments to grant official status to Russian and other languages, while hundreds of opponents of the measure clashed violently with riot police officers in Kiev, the capital.

The chairman, Volodymyr M. Lytvyn, said Parliament acted illegitimately in adopting the bill, and tendering his resignation temporarily blocks it from reaching President Viktor F. Yanukovich, who could sign it into law.

Lawmakers from Mr. Yanukovich’s Party of Regions, which holds the majority, pushed the bill through in such a surprise maneuver that Mr. Lytvyn was not even present for the vote.

“I have been fooled, Ukraine has been fooled, the people have been fooled,” Mr. Lytvyn told fellow lawmakers.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/world/europe/top-ukrainian-lawmaker-quits-in-protest-of-language-bill.html

[newthinking]

1. Keep in mind, almost half the population is Russian and much of their pop cannot speak Ukrainian.

For good or ill that is the population makeup of the country. It's time for Ukraine to accept that, engage both Ukrainian and Russian speaking citizens and move on to the much more serious issues they need to tackle.

It is hard to see this as a "sneaky move" when the laws attempting to remove the Russian language from Civil life and media disenfranchised and made life unnecessarily difficult for much of their population.

[Paula Sims]

2. That's exactly why things should be in Ukrainian

The country has been Russified enough -- their identity taken away ("Ukrainian, same as Russian, right?&quot , their rights, their churches. The language is the foundation of the culture. No, it cannot and should not be made Russian. The Russians should learn how to speak Ukrainian. I don't see Moscow allowing several languages as operating languages. Enough is enough. It might take a while, but they can learn Ukrainian, after all, it's "close enough to Russian". . .

[David__77]

4. You're wrong, there are many languages as "operating languages" in Russia.

Russia has 27 official regional languages. Ukraine's new progressive policy would being it in line more with Russia language policy (and what the US language policy should be). They speak Chechan in Chechnya - why not Russian in Russian areas of Ukraine? The West Ukraine anti-Russia chauvinists have a miserable history - Nazi collaboration, religious obscurantism, etc. etc.

[Paula Sims]

5. What's wrong with being Anti-Russian because they are PRO UKRAINIAN?

Yes, Russia has many official regional languages but only ONE official operational language -- Russian. The Ukrainians want the same. The Russians have stampeded over Ukraine and minimized it for centuries. Don't forget the great famine of 1932/1933. Thanks "Uncle Joe". Ukrainians just want their country as it is, as it was. And don't start with the Nazi collaboration stuff -- how many oberkapo have been arrested, tried, and villified? Or are the rules different for them?

Bottom like, Ukraine should be run by Ukrainians and if others want to live there, fine then they should learn the rules. By the way, I feel the same way about America -- there can be many languages, religions, whatever, but when it comes to official documents, English should be it.

And by the way, I speak 7 languages fluently so when I go to Germany, I speak German, Montreal, I speak Quebecois (not French). It's part of nationalism and nationalistic pride and I'm all for it -- regardless of the country.

[David__77]

7. Ethnic Russians citizens of Ukraine are Ukrainians.

Ethnic national-chauvinism is backward. There are many ethnic Russians in Ukraine, and they are every bit as much Ukraininan as ethnic Ukrainians. East Ukraine is majority ethnic Russian, and should be no more forced to speak Ukrainian than Quebecois should be forced to speak English.

If the events of 1932 are relevant to the discussion, then so is the pro-Nazi stand many of Ukraine nationalists.

[newthinking]

8. You get it. It's obvious people posting here have never visited the region.

It's simple really, the western press has only shown the "orange" POV. Our population only gets half the story.

How many know that the first lady of Ukraine (an American at the time) was very high up in the Republican Party for instance?

"Kathy — she is now known as Kateryna — is one of the brightest, most dedicated conservatives I have ever known. She has a MBA from the University of Chicago and is well versed in that school’s free-market economics tradition. The first time we ever met was at a Heritage Foundation event."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2792781&mesg_id=2793006

[sofa king]

3. In five years your phone will speak Ukranian for you.

What's the big deal? Technology has finally progressed to the point where people can freely converse across a multitude of languages, certainly not perfectly but improving all the time.

So who cares what language people speak anymore? Well, obviously they do, but the equally obvious solution is to widely distribute inexpensive portable computing through the region, which I believe has already happened.

[Paula Sims]

6. It's deeper than that -- it's part of national heritage

Ukrainians will not allow their language to be a dead language. Evolving -- sure, but not dead. Even the Irish require some knowledge of Gaelic when in University.

That's something technology will never take over.

[newthinking]

9. Ukrainian as a language is not dying

You just don't seem to understand that there is much more involved here than concerns about the Ukrainian language or heritage. These are ethnic Russians who are also UKRAINIANS.

Do you even know anything about the mixed history of the "orange revolution". Are you aware that Yulia Tymonshenko is the equivilent of the rightest of our right wing? If you watched things on our media you may not have known she called for the opposition protestors to be gathered behind barbed wire and hung for goodness sakes.

This is all far deeper and murky than it might appear.

Nobody objects to a country cherishing it's history and language. But some of the parties involved would see the country balkenized and are acting out of racism against other nationals, and it is not ethnic Russian Ukrainians. Please talk to people on both sides of the fence before you go proclaming something that is being used innapropriately to repress other people.