Ukraine should have two official languages - view.

MOSCOW, February 4 (Itar-Tass) - The Party of Regions has expressed
confidence that Ukraine should have two official languages - Ukrainian and
Russian.
"There are millions of people in Ukraine and apparently half of them
are Russian-speaking citizens for whom Russian is their native language.
And to disregard this fact simply means not to respect one's own country.
The incumbent authorities exactly do this," a member of the Party of
Regions and the chairman of the Lugansk region council, Valery Golenko,
told a local TV program.
"The program of the Party of Regions led by Viktor Yanukovich states
that we will do our utmost for the two languages - Russian and Ukrainian
to be granted the official status," he said.
"It is an essential right of any European state and the EU standard to
get education in Russian and to have an opportunity to speak and use its
native language in the state-run institutions of one's own country,"
Golenko said.
"Ukraine ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages and we hope that Ukraine's new president irrespective of who
will win, will resolve the issue in compliance with the European
standards," he said.
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