Latvia May Restrict Russian
Latvia, a former member of the Soviet Union that shares a border with Russia, could move to restrict the Russian language in workplaces, according to the country’s deputy prime minister.
Jānis Bordāns, who also serves...
Russian and French Media Blocked
Last month, Russia blocked access to the websites of Radio France Internationale and the Russian-language service of The Moscow Times in the latest restrictions on media since Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Moscow Times, whose English-language...
Latvia Drops Russian High Schools
Last month, the Latvian Parliament (Saeima) passed amendments to its education laws according to which ethnic-minority schools will have to transition to Latvian-only secondary education in the 2019/2020 academic year. In passing the amendments,...
Support for Russian in Ukraine
Thirty percent of Ukrainians in areas controlled by the Kiev government support granting official status to the Russian language, according to a new survey.
The poll, conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, found...
Armenia Refuses Russian
Despite Russian leaders’ suggestions, Armenian politicians hold firm on opposition to Russian becoming an official language of Armenia. In July, Vyachaslav Volodin, the...
Russian Retreat in Ukraine
The Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) has passed a bill requiring that 75% of national television programming and 50% of local broadcasting be in the...
Russia to Broadcast New RT Channel in France
Russia’s international network RT will be broadcasting in French next year, the Moscow Times reported. RT—a television network funded by the Russian government—has frequently been called a propaganda outlet for the Russian government, and...
Russian for Chinese Pilots
Chinese fighter pilots will have to learn Russian in order to fly their new, state-of-the-art, Russian-made Sukhoi Su-35 multirole fighter aircraft to be delivered later this year. While the planes will be fitted with...
Russian-Language Writer Wins Nobel
Svetlana Alexievich was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature last month, and three countries claimed a piece of her success. Headlines across Eastern Europe called her a “representative of Russian literature,” a “writer...
EU Reacts to Russian Reporting
The European Union’s (EU's) foreign affairs department announced last month that it was launching a rapid-response team to counter what it considers biased Russian media reports.
The unit, which will include ten Russian-speakers from EU...