Parliament believes that language is settled perfectly by current legislation

The Standing Committee on Education, Culture and Science of the House of Representatives considered the appeal of the assembly of Salihorsk branch of the Belarusian Language Society on the need to give the Belarusian language not a declarative, but a real status of the state language on par with Russian and ensure their real equality in all spheres of life.

In his answer to Salihorsk BLS members, Chairman of the parliamentary commission Aliaksandr Siahodnik traditionally referred to the official bilingualism and the right of everyone to choose the language of communication. According to him, the current legislation does not limit the right of citizens to use any of the two official languages. The MP argues that the questions of the extension of the use of the Belarusian and Russian languages, as well as issues of constitutional rights of citizens in the sphere of language do not require any additional settlement at the legislative level.

“The Parliament keeps telling us that the language issue has been settled perfectly by the national legislation. The profile ministries keep replying that everything is done according to the law, and everything is alright with the Belarusian language in general”, comments the head of Salihorsk BLS Uladzimir Masakouski. “However, there are still no Belarusian-language kindergartens in the cities. The same tendency in the sphere of education can be observed in the rural areas. The principles of the linguistic equality are neglected by the executive committees, leaders of enterprises and organizations almost in all spheres of public life. One can rarely hear the Belarusian language out in the streets.

Representatives of Salihorsk branch of the Belarusian Language Society urge Belarusian-language citizens to actively struggle for their rights and promise to take a number of innovative measures against the language discrimination in the near future.