Language Policy in Ukraine

Abstract

This article seeks to shed more light on Ukraine’s language problem by specifying popular views of policies the state should pursue in the language domain. Aiming at the delineation of possible ways to reconcile the preferences of main ethnolinguistic and regional groups, it analyzes their views of the valid and desirable legislative and institutional arrangements. The data come from a nationwide representative mass survey and twenty focus groups in different parts of Ukraine. The analysis shows that Ukrainian-speakers would like to see their language dominant in all domains but are ready to put up with the widespread use of Russian, provided that their own right to use Ukrainian is not questioned and the titular language retains the priority status and exclusive role in some symbolically important practices. In contrast, Russian-speakers prefer an upgrade of the status of Russian, which they present as a way to ensure the equality of speakers of the two languages but most of them actually want official bilingualism to let them remain unilingual in their capacities both as citizens and as employees. The best solution would be to adopt compromise legislation providing for a limited upgrade of the status of Russian and then facilitate its observance by both bureaucrats and citizens. However, the new language law adopted under President Yanukovych was widely perceived as endangering the use of Ukrainian and thus contributed to confrontation rather than compromise.