Plans to teach Russian in Armenia raise fears of Moscow influence

YEREVAN: Armenia plans to increase teaching Russian in schools in a move that has sparked widespread concerns that Moscow’s influence is growing in the ex-Soviet state. The education ministry has launched public discussion of the reform on the use of the Russian language, as the Caucasus country marks 26 years of independence from the former Soviet Union. Learning Russian is already mandatory in Armenian primary schools. But now the government wants Russian to be taught to an advanced level at a greater number of schools and for secondary schools to use both Armenian and Russian when teaching physics, maths and geography.

Russian “is the most widely used (foreign) language” in Armenia, Education Minister Levon Mkrtchyan said at a press conference. He argued that similar teaching programs already exist for other foreign languages such as English, French and German. The education ministry’s plans, however, have quickly turned into a political dispute, reflecting sensitivities over the use of the Russian language in Armenia and other former Soviet republics. According to a poll this month on the website of Armenia’s education ministry, only 25 percent back the linguistic reform, while 75 percent are against it. “Nobody is against children learning several languages, but when we are talking about forced Russification, it becomes a direct threat to national sovereignty,” said political analyst and former opposition lawmaker Stepan Safarian. Opposition lawmaker Anahit Bakhshyan said she also firmly opposes the plans.

“Why is it necessary to popularize Russian in a country where 98 percent of the population is Armenian,” she asked. “All foreign languages are important, why should we single out Russian?... According to our constitution, our official language is Armenian. There cannot be a second one,” she added. After the fall of the USSR, Russianlanguage schools were closed and the use of Russian vastly decreased.

Today, young Armenians prefer to continue their studies in the West. Armenia’s own language is IndoEuropean and totally unrelated to Russian, with its own unique alphabet. But Yerevan has edged closer to Moscow in recent years, preferring an economic union with Russia over a trade agreement with the European Union. The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament Vyacheslav Volodin recently asked Armenia to make Russian an official language in exchange for Moscow recognizing Armenian driving licences. Yerevan refused. Armenia’s plans to expand Russian teaching come shortly after Ukraine limited the use of Russian in schools with a controversial new law. Kiev’s law was met with criticism not only in hostile Moscow, but also in neighboring Hungary and Romania.—AFP