The Russophonе Union of France (Union des Russophones de France) has come out with a new initiative. It is collecting signatures for a petition calling for Russian to be made an official language of the European Union. The group has posted a call-to-action on its website [http://russophonie.org/drupal/ ] seeking the support of like-minded people and organizations. For now the union intends to measure the level of support for this initiative and is encouraging the collection of signatures for the petition. If a large number of people support the idea, the organization will then decide how to move forward on the European level. In order to present a civil initiative to the European Commission, a total of one million signatures from EU country residents living in seven countries of the union must be collected.
The platform of Russophone Union has seven key points (listed below) arguing in favor of providing the Russian language an official status in the EU.
The union’s call-to-action states: “The recognition of the Russian language in the EU will help us protect the teaching of the Russian language, which currently does not have a very high status at the Ministry of Education [of France – ed.]. This will help our Russian-speaking compatriots (including in certain regions of the European Union where they are a minority “by birth” and where they are not always treated with respect) to communicate in their native language at EU institutions. This will facilitate interaction between various nationalities within the European Union and play a role in integration and even reconciliation, for example, in Belgium, where there are absolutely no problems between the Russian-speaking Flemish and Walloons! And, finally, this will of course allow Europe to achieve cohesion and make best use of economic and strategic complimentarity between the East and the West while respecting traditional European values, tolerance, mutual respects and democracy.”
So, why should the European Union recognize the Russian language as one of the languages of Europe?
1. Because Russian is one of the main languages of Europe. It is one of the conduits of the identity of European civilization. It is difficult to imagine European culture and its heritage without Gogol, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, Chagall, Kondratiev, Pavlov or Gagarin…
2. Because today the Russian language is not only the language of one country but rather the common heritage of many countries, peoples and individuals throughout the world and in particular in Europe in its entirety. This is what allows us to speak of the ‘Russophone continuum,’ which is one aspect of globalization.
3. Because the Russian language is a means of communication between people of different nationalities, including within the European Union. Of course, the so-called ‘UN English’ is irreplaceable in everyday use, but more intimate communication between people, taking into consideration their culture and mindset, is not possible without other intermediary languages. Only these languages are capable of relaying certain concepts and images, which will be lost if we move to a single simplified and profoundly utilitarian language. The use of different languages is a very real manifestation of a diverse and multi-polar world.
4. Because the Russian language is a conduit for the transmission throughout the world of various cultures in which the Russian language plays a central role. For example, such countries as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia and even Ukraine, cannot without the use of Russian, Spanish or French share their cultures and histories with such countries where people speak in Quechua or Soninke. The situation is the same in countries of the European Union: What kind of communication can there be between a Kalmyk and a Catalonian without Russian, Spanish or French?
5. Because in various countries of the European Union there are over 7 million Russian speakers (Russophones), and they are concentrated not only in the historical centers (Baltic states) or in countries where there were recently large concentrations of Russian speakers but also spread out across all the territories of the European Union. Thus Russian is neither a regional nor a local language of certain EU countries and it bears no separatist ambitions. To the contrary it is a factor of European integration.
6. Because the Russian language is necessary for the economic development of Europe, and the European Union in particular, considering the complementary nature of the economies of the two parts of Europe. The use of a common language would undoubtedly help improve and strengthen interaction, including its legal aspects. The Russian language is all the more useful considering the fact that close cooperation is developing between Russia and Europe in such areas as energy and aerospace.
7. Because the right all Russian-speaking residents of Europe to use the Russian language both as their native language and as a transnational language of communication in Europe represents an element of enrichment of the cultural, economic and, of course, geopolitical scope of the entire European Union.
