Tetiana Kyrylenko,
student
“People in our country are bilingual mostly. But it’s awful to listen to that kind of ‘surzhyk’ (hybrid Ukrainian-Russian) our politicians used to speak.”
Valentyna Kuhtyk,
businesswoman
“In Ukraine, both Russian and Ukrainian are widely spoken. And if the government employees are not so strong in Ukrainian, I don’t think it will affect the political or economic situation in the country. Officials should pay attention to the professional background first, because actions are more important than words.”
Vitaliy Pryhodko,
pensioner
“I don’t care what language they’re speaking, they at least need to do something. Now Ukrainian politicians show their best only in stealing from the budget. And I’m ashamed of (Prime Minister Mykola) Azarov. His Ukrainian is more a mockery than a normal language. He would better off speaking Russian instead or just quit.”
Inna Mykhalko,
student
“I agree with this, because it’s one of the most important requirements they need to meet. It’s nonsense that top politicians don’t know the official language. Also it will be good for them to pass a Ukrainian history exam. I think it will be good to organize some language schools at the Verkhovna Rada for politicians to practice their language skills.”
Oleksandr Kutsenko,
pensioner
“Everybody must know Ukrainian and politicians are not an exception. There’s one official language so far and they need to be fluent in it.”
