Language as a trump card
When there are no other cards to play
A significant trial took place in Mykolaiv. Anatolii Ilchenko, retired, was indicted on a charge of hooliganism because he had demanded that a teller at OshchadBank speak Ukrainian to him. The court found Ilchenko guilty and subjected him to a fine of 51 hryvnias. According to Ilchenko himself, he did not sign the protocol of the trial because it had been made out in Russian. He is going to appeal this decision at courts of higher instance.
It is hard to disagree that a year ago this would have seemed unthinkable. Now, it perfectly fits the general political context. Moreover, the venerable old gentleman from Mykolaiv had better hurry — his claims will soon be declared groundless. The parliament wants to reinstate the Russian language to schools, universities, television, and even the courts of law. More precisely, they want to put it on equal standing with Ukrainian.
The Day has already written about the draft law “On Languages in Ukraine,” registered at the Verkhovna Rada. The legislators propose to secure free development for the Russian language, and recognize Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism as the heritage of the Ukrainian nation, with Ukrainian remaining the official language. However, Russian and other regional languages can be the languages of legal proceedings, pretrial investigations, inquiries, public prosecutor supervision, notarial records, and social and economic activity.
Bilingualism is envisaged in the realms of science, TV and radio broadcasting, advertizing, and even in the post office. On the other hand, students at schools and universities will be allowed to choose their language of instruction.
There is virtually no doubt that this law is going to be passed — at least according to the authors, Oleksandr Yefremov (Party of Regions), Petro Symonenko (Communist Party of Ukraine), and Serhii Hrynevetsky (Lytvyn’s Bloc). Lytvyn washed his hands off it, as usual. He will probably say that he has a specific view on the issue, but his faction will vote unanimously.
Why is the regime starting to worry itself with the notorious language problem right now? Does the Party of Regions want to get it all and right away? Or should this initiative be considered in the context of local elections? The latter hypothesis seems the credible. You have to show something to the voters. The social situation is unsatisfactory, there has been no particular economic progress, ratings are plummeting... You have to show them something, and the language issue comes in handy here. “They cannot go in for the election with the idea of raising the retirement age,” ponders Vadym Karasiov in his conversation with The Day. “They have to compensate with a social, ideological issue, therefore, it is necessary to pass this law.”
On the other hand, it makes sense given the Party of Regions’ position. One might say that they are fulfilling their electoral promises. Thus, the Regionals are acting both strategically and tactically. Another question addresses the future of the Ukrainian language. However, this seems to be the least of the coalitions’ concerns.
“In terms of political consequences, this means the death of the Ukrainian language,” says political scientist Ihor Zhdanov. “Ukrainian is not going to be oppressed — it will just gradually fall into disuse, especially in the central and eastern regions of Ukraine. When Russian becomes the universal language of kindergartens, schools, and universities, the future of the Ukrainian language is obvious to me.”
