Law on status of Russian language in Ukraine may provoke off-year parliamentary polls

The political crisis provoked by the law on Russian language in Ukraine may end up with off-year parliamentary polls, President Victor Yanukovych said, RIA Novosti reports.

Ukrainian Speaker of Parliament Vladimir Litvin said after the bill was passed on Wednesday that he wanted to resign. Journalists and assistant MPs applauded for his decision. The People’s Party under Litvin’s chairmanship and the Party of Regions initiated a break.

Nikolai Tomenko, Vice Speaker of Parliament and a member of the Bloc of Yulia Timoshenko, said that he could not continue working at such parliament.

The Ukrainian parliament passed a bill on languages on Tuesday. Opposition failed to hinder its passing. Adoption of the law would turn the Russian language into a regional language if at least 10% of the population speaks it, this means 13 out of 27 Ukrainian administrative-territorial units. Besides expansion of the sphere of the Russian language, the new law strengthens positions of national minorities.