State Duma speaker proposes making Russian official language in Armenia

The State Duma president has proposed a plan for giving Russian an official language status in Armenia as a possible move facilitating the recognition of Armenian citizens’ driving licenses in the country, the news agency TASS report.

“Once you declare [Russian] as an official language, the law will automatically apply to the Republic of Armenia,” Vyacheslav Volodin said at an official meeting with President of the Armenian National Assembly Ara Babloyan.

The question was raised by Armenia’s top parliament official who expressed concerns over the status of the Armenians currently residing and working Russia. Babloyan noted that citizens of Kyrgyzstan and other post-Soviet countries which legally declared Russian an official language benefit from the right of working in the country with their driving licenses.

“When we were considering the issue, we underlined that the norm applies to only those countries where it Russian language’s official status] is enshrined in the constitution and legislation,” Volodin said.