Issue ? 47. December 2014

Russian Language in the Eastern Europe: Сurrent Condition and Foreign Policy Practices

Ph.D., Associate Professor, Political Science and Law Department, Institute of Economics and Information Technology, Kazan State Power Engineering University, Kazan, Russian Federation.
E-mail: yanush_ob@yahoo.com

The article is devoted to the position of the Russian language in Eastern Europe. There is a general downward trend in the Russian-speaking population in the region, the reduction of Russian-language space, of the prestige and popularity of the Russian language. The purpose of this study is to assess the prospects of the Russian language in Eastern Europe, taking into account the processes of European integration. The author cites the sociolinguistic data characterizing Russian language, relying on domestic and foreign information resources, analyzes the main EU legal instruments, fixing the position of the language(s), describes the examples of foreign practices of the "Russian World" foundation. The paper concludes that the language policy of the EU creates favorable conditions for the consolidation of the Russian language in Eastern Europe, but proper conceptual maintenance and thoughtful real steps on the part of Russia are still necessary.

Keywords

Russian language, Eastern European countries, language policy, European Union, multilingualism, language status, strengthen the position of language.