Thread: Members of Ukrainian parliament fight over Russian language

Originally Posted by xdns

Sorry, what crimes did Russians commit in Ukraine? Maybe when Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire they treated it like subordinate, I don't know. But in the 20th century the Soviet Union actually reunited Ukrainian people - Eastern Galicia and Volhynia with its mostly Ukrainian population were taken from Poland and given to Ukraine (1939). Later Soviets gave Ukraine luxurious gift - the Crimea, a peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea and a part of Russia back then (1954). It is clear that Russians helped Ukraine to expand its territory and escape Polish and German (who were not so keen on preserving Ukrainian culture, religion and language) dominance. Thanks to these developments Ukraine emerged eventually as an independent state with one of the biggest areas in Europe. Russians lived in its eastern regions for centuries, and the Crimea was given to Ukraine with its mostly Russian population. How could it be that Russians in Ukraine do not deserve official recognition of their mother tongue after all that?

none if you discount the operations against population in Western Ukraine, they did commit them in the Baltic states though
either way i was answering a statement about Canada in particular

Originally Posted by LXNDR

none if you discount the operations against population in Western Ukraine, they did commit them in the Baltic states though
either way i was answering a statement about Canada in particular

Based on this logic the decendants of Western Ukrainians should be stripped of all rights because their ancestors helped the Nazis to clear their region from Jews and Poles. Why the alleged crimes against Western Ukarinians and the Balts are more important than the crimes against Jews, Poles and Russians? I also note that there is nothing the history has recorded about anything happening to Western Ukrainians and Balts comparable to what they did to Jews and Poles in Western Ukraine, what the Latvian SS did to Belorussians in Belorussia and the locals to the Jews in the Baltics.

Originally Posted by LXNDR

either way i was answering a statement about Canada in particular

You see, if you want to draw the exact parallel, you should say that French Canadians should ban English from being a second official language.
The thing is that French Canadians arrived earlier than English settlers and, subsequently, French settlements should probably be considered Canadian and that way English actually conquered/occupied Canada. So, at the time of Confederation (=i.e. when Canada became a country) there were actually only two provinces which were interested: Quebec (mostly French speaking) and Ontario (mostly English speaking). The financial capital of Quebec was Montreal, but that city had the biggest English-speaking population in Quebec (think Riga). The official bilingualism united people in Canada, made it one country, so to speak. Allowed people to get past the wars of their ancestors.

The similar situation happened in some of the other countries with the official bilingualism. Another good example - South Africa. The Afrikaans and English were (and still are) the two official languages. That helped to unite the nation too.

I just fail to see why to re-invent the wheel and take the risk of unnecessary tension rather than using a peaceful solution that worked in the past and still works perfectly nowdays..

The other countries which used the 'boiling pot' language strategy (like the US and Israel) faced a totally different set of issues and were pressed to work out their aggressive language policies. But, I don't think that applies to Ukraine anyways.

PS.

Originally Posted by Ф.Купер

- Ну и дьявольщина! Ничего хорошего это не предвещает, - сказал Следопыт [...],
Только индейцу, развращенному хитрыми канадскими священниками, могло
прийти в голову вырезать это на своей трубке.
Ручаюсь, что негодяй молится на свой талисман всякий раз, как собирается обмануть невинную жертву или замышляет какую-нибудь чудовищную пакость. Похоже, что трубку только что обронили. Верно, Чингачгук?

Originally Posted by Crocodile

I just fail to see why to re-invent the wheel and take the risk of unnecessary tension rather than using a peaceful solution that worked in the past and still works perfectly nowdays..

you fail to see because you come from a flawed premise, there's no tension

for example no one ever demanded from this notorious Party Of Regions to raise this issue in the parliament and they haven't done so of their own accord since 2007 when they gained the majority in the parliament, they only raise it now because elections glimmer on the horizon
it's a cheap political stunt

sorry i feel i start recycling myself, my opinion i have already made clear