Thread: Members of Ukrainian parliament fight over Russian language

Originally Posted by LXNDR

every nation which comes to another land and start dictating rules will be perceived as threat and phobia is nothing else than fear, fear of threat in this case, so russophobia is just a manifestation of self-preservation instinct of a nation which feels threatened by Russia

and I just agree that Russian state and Russian citizens insofar as they agree with their government policies pose threat to neighboring countries, or at least unfriendly towards them, especially if those countries are oriented towards European values, which are by and large incongruent with the values Russian state currently adheres to

its aggressiveness Russian state has demonstrated in a recent armed conflict with Georgia

I can certainly agree with that.

Of course MANY Ukrainian's speak Russian language "ethnically" - yet some speak such because they were FORCED to do such by the Soviet boot on their necks.

The same can be said for many of the "Warsaw pact" nations that were FORCED to study the "Ruski Yazik". They HATE Russian language - and possibly Russian people as well - because of the 40 years of oppression and repression that their country endured at the hands of the Soviet.

Of course the contemporary Russian citizen can no more be held accountable for the sins of the Soviet than the contemporary German citizen for the sins of the Nazi - but many people do not understand that.

Originally Posted by KLAPA

The same can be said for many of the "Warsaw pact" nations that were FORCED to study the "Ruski Yazik".

Being forced to learn a language is not the worst thing possible - after all we were all "forced" to learn all kinds of languages at school without an opportunity to refuse. In the USSR we were "forced" to learn Ukrainian which I do not regret at all even if I do not feel any particular fondness for it.

At least Poles were not forced to accept it as their native language and to use it instead of Polish in courts, movie theaters, etc.

Originally Posted by KLAPA

The same can be said for many of the "Warsaw pact" nations that were FORCED to study the "Ruski Yazik". They HATE Russian language - and possibly Russian people as well - because of the 40 years of oppression and repression that their country endured at the hands of the Soviet.

I think this is true for some people, maybe the majority. But I have personally met many Eastern Europeans who don't feel this way at all. A Polish person not so long ago, a Bulgarian guy who was running a very successful IT business in London and a German technician that I knew through work. A girl from Lithuania who is in the same book club as me and countless CVs where Eastern Europeans claim to speak fluent Russian.
All of them practically brag about their skills in Russian as a second language.

Many people in France blatantly despise English, some in Germany too. They feel their own language is quite sufficient and do not want to feel like fools expressing themselves in English just because of the current dominance of the USA or whatever they see as the explanation.

Those of us who speak smaller European languages as our mother tongues (like me) appreciate that knowing English makes all of the internet and endless more literature and culture available. I'd say that Russian would fill a similar type of role for some people even if it is a smaller language than English, it is a "world" language. For Polish, Czech etc people it is considerably easier to learn Russian than English, that's got to count for something. So I wouldn't take their complaints too seriously - it will be forgotten with time. Everyone has to learn English now, and if you don't, certain careers are not available. I don't see the big difference.

Originally Posted by KLAPA

Of course MANY Ukrainian's speak Russian language "ethnically" - yet some speak such because they were FORCED to do such by the Soviet boot on their necks.

The same can be said for many of the "Warsaw pact" nations that were FORCED to study the "Ruski Yazik". They HATE Russian language - and possibly Russian people as well - because of the 40 years of oppression and repression that their country endured at the hands of the Soviet.

Of course the contemporary Russian citizen can no more be held accountable for the sins of the Soviet than the contemporary German citizen for the sins of the Nazi - but many people do not understand that.

LOL. If you give independence to Moscow oblast and put regional nationalists in charge, they also will claim that Moscow oblast was suppressed by Moscow for thousands of years, so that all who came from Moscow and their descendants are "occupiers" and their rights should be restricted.