Bilingual mania
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov once again made a show of himself while visiting the Latvian capital, Riga. He proposed to institute Russian as the second official language in this Baltic state: “I think the time of this harum-scarum national priority is up and everything goes back to normal. Steps must be taken to make Latvia a bilingual country. It is not as yet, but I think this situation will change.” He added that Latvia and Latvians will only benefit from this in the business, cultural, and social spheres. “The Russian community of Latvia has potential and influence, and its voice is heard. Swedes make up less than eight percent of the Finnish population, yet Swedish is an official language there. Russian is recognized as an official language in New York City elections. In Israel, they’re seriously considering the possibility of making Russian an official language,” Luzhkov declared at a meeting in the House of Moscow in Riga, reports Riga-based Diena. Luzhkov visited the Latvian capital on an invitation of his Rigan counterpart Nils Usakovs to discuss a program of cooperation between the Latvian and Russian capital cities in 2009-11.
As usual, Luzhkov handled facts in his own freestyle manner. There are considerably less Swedish-speaking Finns: around 5.5 percent. Although Swedish is taught in school for three years, in grades 7 to 9, the number of those speaking the language is on a steady downward curve, currently amounting to some 290,000 residents of coastal regions of the Gulf of Bothnia. In Israel, the subject of raising the status of the Russian language is broached now and then, but that’s as far as it gets, and the situation isn’t likely to change because the number of Russian-speaking Israelis is also falling.
It is common knowledge that the revival and development of ethnic languages in the former Soviet republics is regarded by the Kremlin as an “irrational national priority,” and that Luzhkov has long been in the front ranks of those campaigning for raising the status of the Russian language. His statements to this effect have long been heard in Ukraine; they are like ritual dances, in line with his stand in the matter of Sevastopol allegedly belonging to Russia. However, making a statement like this in Latvia is something new, given the historical and political specifics of the Baltic states and their complex relationships with Russia.
As an experienced politician, the Moscow mayor was only too well aware of the negative reverberations his proposal would cause, and must realize that Russian will never be recognized as an official language in Latvia. Therefore, his extravagant statements had other reasons behind them.
Some Russian newspapers explained Luzhkov’s statement by the fact that 40 percent of the Latvian population are Russian-speaking individuals. In actuality, current estimates point to 27.5 percent ethnic Russians, 3.55 Ukrainians, and 2.46 percent Belarusians. Even if all these were regarded as “Russians” (a somewhat abusive assumption), the total percentage would be 33.5. Moreover, the number of Russian-speaking Latvian nationals is constantly decreasing. In 2004, forty percent of children were enrolled in Russian-language schools, while 41 percent were in schools with both Latvian and Russian as languages of instruction; in 2007, it was 10 and 83 percent, respectively. Given these dynamics, the narrowing of the share of Russian-speaking Latvians makes Luzhkov’s statement purely political. Naturally, it met with public protest.
Latvian President Valdis Zatler twittered a rather sharp response to the Moscow mayor: “We have no use for strangers’ advice. Latvian shall remain the only official language. Latvian must unite all residents of Latvia.” Ex-Foreign Minister and current Latvian MP Artis Pabriks regarded Luzhkov’s statement as an interference into Latvian domestic affairs: “If Mr. Luzhkov wanted to offer a piece of advice to ethnic Russians, it should have been to study and practice Latvian, so as to stand a better chance on the job market. People must respect the society and the country in which they live.” He added that the languages of ethnic minorities in Russia do not have as many opportunities as Russian does in Latvia.
Yevgenia Boiko, a leading expert with the Moscow Center for Political Conjuncture, says that “Latvia is painfully vulnerable to legislative norms and political trends, so Luzhkov’s statement couldn’t fail to cause such response from the Latvian leadership. Above all, it was the fear of encroachments being made on Latvia, its sovereignty within the EU framework — the way they see it in Latvia. In my opinion, it all stands to logic and such a reaction was to be expected.”
Yuri Luzhkov acted with the elegance of the proverbial bull in a china shop. Janis Urbanovics, candidate for prime minister of the Saskanas Centrs (Harmony Center) parliamentary faction, is quoted by the newspaper Telegraf as branding Luzhkov’s statements as provocative, aimed at supporting the party Par cilveka tiesibam vienoa Latvia (For Human Rights in United Latvia — Russian acronym ZAPLEL): “That way he continued the ZAPLEL support program launched by his outfit… That statement was aimed at continuing the topic on the agenda of a certain party, even if only on the level of slogans.” Urbanovics noted that the Saskanas Centrs “isn’t afraid to discuss matters pertaining to language, but it has no intention of responding to provocations… These are rivals’ opinions stemming from a painful awareness of their [low] ratings.” And this considering that the Saskanas Centrs is led by Riga Mayor Nils Usakovs who invited Luzhkov over.
None of the parties involved in the Latvian parliamentary campaign this fall has a program with a clause of making Russian the second official language. ZAPLEL promises this status on the level of [local] self-government, in areas where the number of Russian-speaking residents exceeds 20 percent. Saskanas Centrs has no program clause concerning the status of the Russian language. When asked a question in Russian by a journalist of the LNT Channel during a news conference, Nils Usakovs replied in Latvian.
Political analyst Andris Spruds believes that “a policy aimed at strengthening contacts with Russia is being pursued, a policy that has been conducted during the year by Usakovs and [Riga Deputy Mayor] Slesers, so there is a certain election campaign context. Luzhkov’s visit culminated everything previously accomplished. This may strengthen the Saskanas Centrs’ position and partially that of the Latvijas Pirma partija/Latvijas Cels (Latvia’s First Party/Latvia’s Way).”
Maris Riekstins, another ex-foreign minister, and currently member of the Siemina (Latvian Parliament) from the Tautas Partija (People’s Party), does not think Luzhkov’s statement reflects the official stand of the Russian government: “Luzhkov is known for his markedly scandalous high-flown statements. I don’t think he conveyed any special signal from the Kremlin… I believe we should ignore it. We have our policy and it’s not worth changing it. I don’t regard such statements as significant political announcements that have to be seriously reckoned with,” he said in an interview with the LTV Channel.
Now about the purely Russian reasons behind Luzhkov’s statements. He has long had quite a few problems keeping his mayor’s seat and clout in the Russian capital. At a certain stage the Kremlin and Luzhkov developed a modus vivendi of sorts, but this period of peaceful coexistence is over. Accordingly, any slip [on Luzhkov’s part] or anything that can be regarded as one, is later used for an attack. During the wildfires in the Moscow suburbs Luzhkov made the mistake of going off on holidays. Formally, the wildfires were the headache of Moscow oblast Governor Boris Gromov (who, incidentally, proved absolutely inept as a crisis manager), but the Russian president voiced his surprise that the Moscow Mayor was relaxing overseas at such a critical moment. The scandal had no sequel, but everything went on record, to be brought up at the right time.
Perhaps coincidentally, that same day when Luzhkov made his statements in Riga the Forbes’ Russian version referred to Luzhkov as Russia’s richest bureaucrat with last year’s re-venues (together with Mrs. Luzhkov) in excess of €760,000,000. The journal went on to write that the Luzhkovs own a cottage with a total area of 2,431.2 square meters and homes in Great Britain and Spain (1,203.1 and 1,627.9 m2, respectively). Some sources indicate that this is only a small part of the real estate they own outside Russia; that the family has a considerably larger property in Montenegro than Marshal Tito’s former residence. Everybody is apparently getting tired of Luzhkov. That he hasn’t been retired is no merit of his. The Moscow mayor’s post is extremely important, politically as well as financially. It is the target of a severe competition between Putin and Medvedev’s groups of influence. Once they reach a compromise, Luzhkov will suffer the lot of the former presidents of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. After making certain compensations, Luzhkov will be invited to tender his resignation and retire to one of his residences in Great Britain, Spain or elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the Moscow mayor keeps reminding everyone of his importance with his political antics, although this isn’t likely to help him much. The time of Luzhkov’s undivided rule in Moscow is running short, whatever scandalous statements he makes in regard to the language or other matters.
