A bill on the official status of the Russian language has been registered in the parliament of Ukraine. The polled deputies of the Verkhovna Rada believe that a sufficient number of votes for the adoption of the bill will be gathered, but then President Viktor Yushchenko will veto it.
The bill under number 1120 envisages that all acts and orders of state institutions will be published in Russian and Ukrainian. It also declares the possibility of free use of the Russian language in education, culture, judicial proceedings, television broadcasting, postal correspondence, etc.
"I am confident that the bill will gather the necessary 226 votes, but, most likely, the President will veto it. Of course, it is unlikely that we will be able to overcome this veto by finding 300 votes. However, we do not abandon the strategic idea of recognizing Russian as a second state language," says deputy Yevheniy Kushnaryov from the Party of Regions.
The Socialists are more optimistic regarding the bill on the Russian language: "Most likely, the bill will receive the necessary 226 votes, but the President will veto it. However, I do not rule out that 300 votes necessary to overcome it will be found in the Rada. The adoption of this bill would relieve tension between the East and West of Ukraine," says Vasyl Volha, a member of the Socialist Party faction, reports "Novyi Rehion".
Representatives of the pro-presidential "Our Ukraine" are warning in advance that Viktor Yushchenko will not support the official status of the Russian language under any conditions.
"President Yushchenko will not sign it under any conditions. Official status is the same as state status. This initiative fully contradicts the spirit of the 'Universal' signed earlier, although the 'regionalists' beat their chests and swear that they are not violating the 'Universal'," emphasized a representative of "Our Ukraine," deputy Vyacheslav Kyrylenko.
Members of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc also support the criticism regarding the intentions to grant the Russian language state status:
"This bill fully contradicts state policy in general. There is no problem with the Russian language in Ukraine. First of all, we must protect the Ukrainian language," believes a representative of the BYuT, deputy Anatoliy Semynoha.