So over at the Guardian we find out that the Ukraine has passed a law which makes Russian official as a regional language where it is spoken by more than 10% of the population. A normal democratic move you would say pushing the way to Europe, if it wasn't for the dramatic undertones of what that means for a country that is almost wholly in the shadow of its big neighbour, Russia.

We must not forget that France, right in the heart of Europe, will not ratify the charter for minority languages, meaning that the Ukraine is now more democratic and liberal in this matter than France, whatever the reason may be. And I struggle to see this in the way the Guardian does, because surely Russian-speaking people should be allowed to receive services and have official status for their language, especially where it constitutes an important minority, or even, in some places, a clear majority. This law does not make Ukrainian subsidiary to Russian, it doesn't demote it, instead it merely reflects the order of things as they stand today. And there's no way I can see that in a bad light.

Here's to language plurality and rights for minority languages!