Attempts to force Russian language out of some of the former Soviet states cause concern, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said.
Addressing the Third International Livadia Forum, Matviyenko said that Russian language has been facing serious difficulties caused by a number of reasons.
"Among them are attempts to force Russian language from schools and universities in the former Soviet states, as well as a discrimination policy adopted by some countries who impose restrictions on the use of Russian in politics, business and the media sphere," Matviyenko said.
According to her, all this was a cause for legitimate concern, as the number of Russian-speaking people in the world had significantly declined since the end of the 20th century. In Matviyenko’s opinion, this trend needs to be overcome. "We should make painstaking efforts to revive the interest in Russian language on the global level," TASS cited the speaker as saying.
She added that the efforts should include, first and foremost, setting up programs aimed at encouraging foreigners to study Russian. According to Matviyenko, programs aimed at methodological assistance for Russian language teachers need to be developed, as well as interactive education programs prompting the youth to study Russian.
