Kazakhstan: State language – attribute of sovereig nty (Interview with Ukrainian ambassador)

Wed Apr 22 14:41:45 UTC 2009

State language – attribute of sovereignty

ASTANA.  April 20. KAZINFORM /Maksat Naimantaiuly/  It is not only
political, economic and humanitarian spheres that bring Kazakhstan and
Ukraine together, but also common problems that the two countries
face, including expansion of the sphere where the state languages is
used -   Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to
the Republic of Kazakhstan Nikolai Selivon   said relating Ukraine’s
language policy experience.  Mr. Selivon, having gained independence
both Kazakhstan and Ukraine faced the problem of revitalization of the
national language. In this respect the experience of Ukraine in
conduction of the language policy is important to us. What are the
principles of Ukrainian legislation in the sphere of languages?

In October 2008 within the Year of Ukraine in Kazakhstan we held a
roundtable titled “Experience and Problems of State Language
Formation: Kazakhstan and Ukraine”. The event was organized under the
auspices of Kazakhstan Ministry of Culture and Information with
leading experts of our country involved. It was an unanimous opinion
that our countries have a lot in common, namely in the ways of
development of our state languages and expansion of the spheres of
their usage.

One of these problems is the heritage of the Soviet period when
Russian was the language of inter-ethnic communication, and in fact it
forced out the national languages. Following the roundtable the
participants concluded it was important to continue this dialogue,
research and exchange of experience in this issue.

As for the Ukrainian legislation, undoubtedly, the Constitution is the
major document which has defined the legal basis of conducting
official language policy in the country and which has consolidated the
state status of the Ukrainian language. In accordance with the
Constitution the government ensures all-round development and use of
the Ukrainian language in all spheres of social life countrywide.

In addition, language appears to be an issue under specific category
in several laws, such as the Laws  On Languages in the Ukrainian SSR
as of 1989, On Education, On Information, On Printed Mass Media and
others.

The decision of the Constitutional Court as of December 14, 1999
significantly influenced on determination of the status of Ukrainian
as the state language, since it qualified the very notion of the
“state (official) language”. Also, a state program on development and
use of the Ukrainian language for 2004-2010 was adopted in 2003. The
document aims at creating favorable conditions to help develop and
expand the sphere of the Ukrainian language usage, bring up respectful
attitude towards the native language, raise national
self-consciousness and patriotism among Ukrainian citizens.

  How do you estimate the situation with the usage of the Ukrainian
language in public institutions’ activity?

During the first years of our independence when only a few people
realized that the state language was one of the elements of the
constitutional regime and an attribute of sovereignty, the usage of
the Ukrainian language by public institutions was not obligatory
though it was provided by the legislative framework.

The spheres of use of the national language as an official language
were later determined by the decision of the Constitutional Court on
December 14, 1999. Being a member of the Court I took part in the
decision making. The decision reads as follows: “knowledge of the
Ukrainian language is one of the obligatory conditions to enter the
public service”. It should be mentioned that the Constitutions of our
countries stipulate fluent knowledge of the state language as one of
the primary obligatory requirements to a candidate for president.

As per the Constitution and legislation, the entire records management
in all central and local executive bodies has been performed in the
Ukrainian language for several years. However, it was taken into
account that not every Ukrainian and particularly foreigners speak
Ukrainian fluently. Therefore there was established a rule providing
that lack of knowledge of Ukrainian is not a reason for refusal to
accept or consider any documents by executive bodies.

On the other hand, there are other ethnoses also residing on the
territory of Ukraine which preserve their culture, traditions and
language. I am not talking about Russians only which make 17% of
Ukrainian population. In such cases the Russian and other languages of
the national minorities can be used along with the state language.

 It is known that the most effective results can be reached through
study of foreign language from early childhood. How are children
taught the official language in Ukraine?

The Ukrainian language is a compulsory discipline in all educational
institutions. According to the poll held in 2005 over 70% of
respondents noted that children and students became more fluent in
Ukrainian owing to studying the language at kindergartens and schools.
Thus before they go to secondary schools children can speak Ukrainian
and have basic knowledge of Ukraine, its culture, literature,
traditions and history. Like Kazakhstan, Ukraine is a multinational
state. Thus the national legislation guarantees national, cultural and
language right to all Ukrainian citizens.

  - A significant role in the outreach of the state language belongs
to mass media, especially electronic. How does it help to promulgate
it and what is the share of the public information published in the
official language?

-	The language use in this sphere is regulated by Ukrainian Laws on
Printing Mass Media, and TV and Radio Broadcasting, and others. For
instance, the article 10 of the TV and Radio Broadcasting Law
stipulates that TV and radio companies broadcast information in the
official language that is the Ukrainian language. As for the specific
TV channels and programs, the language is determined by the broadcast
license conditions. A specific case has specific approach with
provision for the region, audience, and information content. For the
nation-wide broadcasting the running time in the Ukrainian language
must not be less than 75% of daily broadcasting.

  What incentives are envisaged to encourage non-Ukrainian individuals
to learn the official language?

Here lies another difference between our countries. Russian has been
the language of international communication in our countries for a
long time basically being official, for russification underlaid the
foundation of the language policy of the former USSR. Ukrainians in
their majority are bilingual. There aren’t any differentiations on a
national principle in this sphere, therefore there are no special
incentives for ethnic non-Ukrainians. However, every one has the right
to study at national schools, publish newspapers or broadcast TV and
radio programs in their language.

  2007 was declared the Year of Kazakhstan in Ukraine. 2008 was the
Year of Ukraine in Kazakhstan. How do you assess the results of these
events?

The Year of Kazakhstan and the Year of Ukraine are very big events. In
both countries about 400 various campaigns took place thereupon. I set
forth my thoughts about these events in my article titled “Inseparable
with each other” published by Kazakhstanskaya Pravda as of March 12
2009.
On the whole my assessment of these two years is absolutely positive.
The remarkable results are manifested by the mutual trade volumes
boosted more than twofold, not mentioning numerous business forums,
scientific conferences, exhibitions and concerts. A lot of spheres
have been vitalized, such as tourism and youth policy and some others
which used to go last in our bilateral cooperation. The most important
is that these two years have fortified the existing foundation of our
cooperation and opened new directions and prospects for interaction.
We will do our best to preserve the potential that we have, and use it
to carry through mutually beneficial projects.

  Thank you very much for such an informative interview.

http://www.inform.kz/showarticle3.php?lang=eng&id=178841
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of
the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a
message are encouraged to post a rebuttal. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)
*******************************************