Posted on 08/13/2006 2:43:20 PM PDT by Grzegorz 246
KIEV, August 11 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's new prime minister said Friday that granting Russian the status of an official language in the country was impossible under current conditions.
Viktor Yanukovych, speaking in Ukraine's Russian-speaking Crimea, said such a decision could be made by the constitutional majority in the Ukrainian parliament or through nationwide referendum.
"Both of these steps are unrealistic at the current stage," he said, as his supporters would not be able to gain a constitutional majority in the Supreme Rada, and referendums are "a procedure controlled by the president."
Yanukovych said Ukraine needed a law "that would regulate the use of the Russian language and enable the European Charter for [Regional or Minority] Languages to be applied in Ukraine."
The status of the Russian language, along with NATO membership, was one of the hotly-debated issues that delayed the signing of a national unity agreement on key policy areas by President Viktor Yushchenko and parliamentary leaders before Yanukovych's appointment as prime minister last Friday. The sides eventually agreed to keep Ukrainian as the main state language, without entrenching it as the only official language.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday, the premier, whose first language is Russian, highlighted the problem of discrimination against the Russian language in Ukraine. "We must create conditions to give people who are used to speaking Russian the possibility of using it in their everyday lives," he said, adding that the Ukrainian language should also be developed in the Russian-speaking southeastern regions of Ukraine.
I don't see the problem with these people.
Call a Ukrainian a Russian by mistake and you'll see the problem with these people.
Be prepared to run...very quickly.
Galicia, in Spain, has a similar problem. The original Galician language has been dead since the 1600s (when they all emigrated to Cuba), but it was replaced with two different versions of Spanish. One version is very similar to Portuguese. The other version is more similar to regular Spanish spoken in Madrid and elsewhere.
They've gotten into armed conflict over these minor differences. My own command of Spanish is so weak I really can't tell the difference (but they are not going ot get me to lisp, not ever, no, no, no ~ ain't no way)
Ukrainians and Russians understand one another. The languages are close enough in pronunciation. I remember speaking Russian to a Ukrainian woman 19 years ago (when I still had enough active brain cells to speak Russian) and whe understood everything I said even though she had never studied Russian or used it.
The modern alphabets are different, however. I knew a Ukrainian man whose name was Igor, but because he was Ukrainian it was actually Ihor. All I could think every time I talked to him was a donkey braying "Ihor, ihor..."
My name would be more like "Volodomyr" (or close to that) in Ukrainian.
Personally, as much as I like Russians, give me a Ukrainian any day. They're more modern, more western, more open to change, less suspicious of Americans and make better perogi.
The Ukrainians took much better to Mongol domination and learned to read the recipes.
So did the Afghans. They call it Mondoo ~ it's remarkably like the Korean Mondooguk because they spice the devil out of it (Indian style). We fortunately have such a restaurant down the street ~ also has a tandoor in which they roast chicken Peruvian style.
Anyway, there are 24,000 Afghans within just a few miles of the throbbing heart of downtown Springfield, so we got their stuff.
What we are short of, though, are Ukrainians. Like many people if we want real Ukrainian food we go to Baltimore (a mere 75 driving miles away), and lo and behold, there it is!
Hopefully a compromise in this issue can be effected.
Personally, as much as I like Russians, give me a Ukrainian any day. They're more modern, more western, more open to change, less suspicious of Americans and make better perogi.==
Accually it was Russians who teach them how to do the pirogi:). Ukranian cusine invented borsch, varenniki. Russian - blinni, pirogi, schi:).
Accually we all Russians, Ukranians and White Russians are the brunches of one tree - Kiev Rus. So each and any ukranian word which not polish is same in Russian language and White-Russian language. Accually the difference is teh pronanciation.
Like you said: "Igor" in Russian and 'Ihor" in Ukranian.
Russians speak vowel "a" everywhere when Ukranians speak "o". It is like American English vs British.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday, the premier, whose first language is Russian, highlighted the problem of discrimination against the Russian language in Ukraine. "We must create conditions to give people who are used to speaking Russian the possibility of using it in their everyday lives," he said, adding that the Ukrainian language should also be developed in the Russian-speaking southeastern regions of Ukraine.==
It is enough. The Ukranian language cann't withstand the direct competition against Russian:).
I love Perogi. A worthy contribution to civilization. I didn't realize it was from that region.
Why ? .... it's not like the Ukrainians can fight.
You wrote:
"Why ? .... it's not like the Ukrainians can fight."
Um...I'm going stand over here and let you stand waaaaaay over there by yourself in case any Ukrainians show up.
:)
okie dokie :) .... it's just that every Ukranian I have met .... well I'm not that impressed.
They can drink and make good people to hang with ... but fight? Nope.
Actually, the Ukrainian borsch differs from the Russian, red beet isn't used in Ukrainian borsch, while melted lard is never used in Russian one.
The blinni (sp?) is a pagan sacred meal, it appeared long before the both ethnicities appeared.
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