Russian Language in German socio-linguistic space as an Object of Russian Language state Policy

Abstract

Today about 110 thousand people are learning Russian in Germany, and almost 2 million people are learning German in Russia The apparent contradiction is that if ethnic Germans do not constitute the dominant non-autochthonous group in Russia, then Russian in Germany is defnitely one of the most widespread languages among the residents and citizens of immigrant origin According to some sources, it even takes the leading position in this segment Its popularization can (and should) serve to preserve the ethnolinguistics identity of the Russian-speaking community abroad The Russian language is undoubtedly an effective instrument of ‘soft power’ in Russian policy abroad, contributing to the creation/ preservation of an attractive image of Russia in the international arena, the establishment of economic, academic, and ethnocultural relations, the construction of a comfortable feld of objective information exchange, the development of the ‘Russian world’ in its current large-scale understanding The answer, in the author’s opinion, is unequivocal The success of efforts undertaken by public and academic organisations of our states; the implementation of projects initiated by German educational institutions and offcial institutions in the framework of international cooperation should not only be supported but to a large extent ensured by the Russian side The article gives an up-to-date assessment of the role of the Russian language and Russian-speaking community in the sociopolitical space of Germany in the course of education, integration, electoral and other processes, the activities of certain actors in striving to reverse the frightening trend of losing Russian language and Russian cultural traditions outside Russia, the problems and prospects of the external direction of contemporary Russian language policy.