Russian language status not expected to 'improve' Armenian drivers’ language skills – politician

The State Duma speaker’s proposal for giving Russian an official language status in Armenia is not expected to encourage the Armenian drivers working in the country to improve their language skills, according to Karen Bekaryan, a member of the Armenian National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Foreign Relations.

“The plan the NA delegation introduced to the Russian side reflected actually the difference between formal implementation and content. What they considered, practically, concerned the teaching and knowledge of the Russian language in Armenia. So if the problem deals with the objective to ensure that those working [in Russia] have the necessary command of the language, that has absolutely nothing to do with status,” he told Tert.am, commenting  Vyacheslav Volodin’s remark voiced at the meeting with the Armenian National Assembly’s speaker.

Bekaryan, who represents the ruling Republican faction in parliament, said he doesn’t think that the issue should have stirred up such a big fuss in Armenia to make certain opposition figures propose a plan for quitting the Eurasian Economic Union.

“All this could have been considered in private talks to discuss visions and possible solutions without ever making headlines in the media,” he added.