RFE/RL: Russian-speakers in Ukraine
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Subject: RFE/RL: Russian-speakers in Ukraine
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RFE/RL: Russian-speakers in Ukraine
RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report
Vol. 2, No. 40, 31 October 2000
A Survey of Developments in Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine by
the Regional Specialists of RFE/RL's Newsline Team.
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UKRAINE
YUSHCHENKO DENIES DISCRIMINATION AGAINST RUSSIAN SPEAKERS.
Premier Viktor Yushchenko told the 24 October "Stolichnye novosti"
that there is no "mass Ukrainization of the population" in Ukraine.
Yushchenko cited a number of official data testifying to the fact that
the use of the Russian language is being freely encouraged in the
country's educational and cultural spheres.
Yushchenko said Ukraine has 2,561 general education schools in which
instruction takes place in Russian: those schools are attended by 2.3
million children or 34.1 percent of their total number. Additionally,
1.8 million schoolchildren (26.6 percent) learn Russian as a subject
at Ukrainian-language schools.
Some 35 percent of students at Ukrainian universities and colleges
receive instruction in Russian. In Crimea, all higher educational
institutions offer instruction only in Russian; the percentage of
Russian-language higher-educational institutions is also high in
Ukraine's eastern and southern regions: Donetsk Oblast (89.3 percent),
Luhansk Oblast (85.6 percent), Odesa Oblast (49.8), and Kharkiv Oblast
(41.9 percent).
Of the some 800 titles in Ukraine's catalogue of periodicals, 50
percent are published in Ukrainian, 25 percent in Russian, and 25
percent are bilingual. In eastern and southern regions, 30-50 percent
of state television and radio broadcasts are in Russian. According to
Yushchenko, in some regions non-state broadcasting companies provide
coverage that is 70-90 percent in Russian.
Yushchenko also told the newspaper that Ukraine has 30
Russian-language theaters and 36 that stage plays in both Ukrainian
and Russian.
Commenting on the state policy of promoting the Ukrainian language,
which is often criticized by Russian circles in Ukraine and some
Russian politicians in Moscow, Yushchenko said: "One needs to
understand our natural desire to pay more attention to the Ukrainian
language, insofar as its use was artificially limited in Ukraine for a
long time. Now, you must agree, there is the problem of the Ukrainian
language... It is impossible to force somebody to like a language...
It is necessary to create incentives for a wider use of the official
language, to make it prestigious."
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Copyright (c) 2000. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report is prepared by Jan
Maksymiuk on the basis of a variety of sources including reporting by
"RFE/RL Newsline" and RFE/RL's broadcast services. It is distributed
every Tuesday.
Direct comments to Jan Maksymiuk at [email protected]. For
information on subscriptions or reprints, contact Paul Goble in
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