Thread: Members of Ukrainian parliament fight over Russian language

The Belgium situation is different because French and Dutch belong to different language families, whereas Russian and Ukrainian are closely related.

Originally Posted by xdns

The Belgium situation is different because French and Dutch belong to different language families, whereas Russian and Ukrainian are closely related.

Mmm.. I found the situation described by Hanna to be really similar to what is going on in Ukraine. Except that in Ukraine there is (probably!) a little more animosity between two groups (or more radical representatives of two groups) due to the fact that it's not only language issue, but the whole baggage of historical and continuing political controversies.

Even the fact that Belgium is called "Belgium" (and not Francland or Dutchmania) makes at an equal field while in Ukraine the name of the state is often used as an argument in language discussions.