Ukrainian lawmakers forced a controversial draft Russian language law through its first reading on Tuesday, forming a human shield around the parliament's rostrum to prevent opposition protests after the first attempt to pass the bill last month ended in a violent brawl.
The bill, which still needs to pass a second reading and be signed by the president to go into force, would allow people in Russian-speaking areas to use Russian in formal documents and in state institutions.
Opponents say the draft law is an attempt by Mr. Yanukovych to distract attention from his failures during two years in office and mobilize voters in Russian-speaking areas, his traditional power base, ahead of parliamentary elections in October.
Language is a contentious issue in the former Soviet republic of 45 million people; many see language as a cornerstone in the fight to protect Ukrainian culture and politics from Russian influence. Ukrainian is the state language and the mother tongue of just over half the population, primarily in the west and center of the country, while most of the rest, concentrated in the east and south, prefer to use Russian.
Opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk said the 234 deputies who voted for the draft law had "betrayed the Ukrainian state and destroyed the Ukrainian constitution."
Sources:
WSJ.com
WSJ.com
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