The adoption of the new language law is the reaction to the Russian language oppression by the Ukrainian former authorities, the Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said in the interview with Vladimir Pozner in his Pozner program on the air of the Russian First Channel.
"First of all, the adoption of this law is the reaction to the fact that the power ruling in the Ukraine during the previous five years was engaged in ousting the Russian language from all the spheres of communication. If our predecessors had not conducted such policy, the issue would not have been so critical," Azarov said.
He reminded that the government of Yulia Tymoshenko "decided to ban children and teachers from speaking Russian during the breaks," but now that decision was cancelled.
Azarov as well reminded of that the previous head of the Naftogaz of Ukraine company visiting Moscow demanded a translator from Russian into Ukrainian.
In his opinion, this was an absurd situation, as half the Ukrainian population considers Russian their native language.
According to Azarov, famous Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko spoke Russian in home, wrote his diaries, letters and prose in Russian.
"Since we declared our desire to integrate with Europe, let's take the best from Europe. Switzerland has four official languages, Finland - two, and so on," he said.
Responding the question whether he is a supporter of granting Russian the status of the state language, Azarov said: "We believe that we should move as the situation in the country permits."
The Ukrainian Prime Minister said that the Party of Regions insists on the adoption of legislation that will secure the right to learn and apply to state agencies in the language, widely used in certain regions.
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