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KIEV, May 17 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's pro-Russia Party of Regions intends to try to make the Russian language an official language in the country, the party's political council said Wednesday.
The party said in a statement that it would attempt to put this issue on the agenda of the first session of the new parliament, which is due to convene at the end of May.
"The party program's objective is to achieve the status of a second state language for Russian. This is not a populist election slogan. We understand that it is crucial for the fates of millions of people and a real opportunity for them not to feel like strangers in their motherland," the statement said.
The party, which won the largest share of the March 26 parliamentary vote with 32.14% and claimed 186 seats in the new parliament, is led by 2004 presidential hopeful Viktor Yanukovych and maintains its powerbase in eastern Ukraine, where Russian is widely spoken.
The party, which despite its electoral success has been frozen out of the process to form a new coalition, also said a Justice Ministry statement on the unconstitutional nature of decisions by some regional and municipal authorities in the east and south to make Russian a regional language had "no basis in law."
