Paul Goble
Staunton, Dec. 13 – Many countries, including the Russian Federation, put up street signs that translate the national language into English or other languages used by visitors to make it easier for them to make their way around. But what Belarus is doing in this regard is sparking anger in Moscow.
Instead of translating the original name into English, the Belarusian authorities have transliterated the Cyrillic original into the Latin script of Belarusian, something Moscow writers say won’t help visitors but will create or deepen divides between Russians and Belarusians. Not surprisingly, they are demanding Minsk change course.
One of their number, Vsevolod Shimov, says that Belarusian nationalists have always viewed the Latin script as a sign of their independence from Russia and their identification with Europe, just as nationalists elsewhere in the former USSR have (fondsk.ru/news/2022/12/13/kto-truditsja-nad-nacionalnym-razmezhevaniem-belorusov-i-russkih-57932.html).
But the nationalists have never gotten very far in a country where most of the population speaks Russian rather than Belarusian, he continues. Now, however, by its actions with the street signs, the government appears to be siding with the nationalists even as it pledges loyalty to Moscow.
“The language question in Belarus at first glance doesn’t look as serious as in Ukraine but potentially it remains explosive,” Shimov argues. “At the basis of nation building in Belarus lies ethnic nationalism based on the idea of the Belarusians as a separate ethno-linguistic community.”
That makes the situation with regard to Latin script on the street signs in major Belarusian cities no small thing. If Minsk doesn’t change course, there is a risk that it will proceed along the same path that Ukraine has with all the ensuing consequences for everyone, the Moscow writer suggests.
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