Russian, a language imposed decades ago over dozens of peoples and nations spanning from the Caucasus to the Pacific islands, is slowly weakening due to political independence or autonomy gained by former Soviet republics.

One of the most blatant examples of former Soviet republics that gained autonomy within the Russian Federation is the case of Tatarstan, a federal republic with its own government and parliament. The Russian Supreme Court has recently warned off the Tatar parliament over language legislation. Moscow argued there was a contradiction between the act passed by Tatarstan and that of the Federation, and therefore has forced Tatarstan to change it. From now on, Russian will be, alongside Tatar, the language of official documentation in Tatarstan's state bodies, public announcements, posters, public advertisements and ballot papers.

The ruling has stirred protests among Tatar language activists, who have accused the Kremlin for "pursuing a policy directed at assimilating the country's many ethnic minorities", RFE/RL reports.

An article published yesterday in ipsnews.net deals with the slow decline of Russian in former Soviet republics, which has seen its influence weakened due to the promotion of the republic's own languages, long ostracized by the communist regime.

According to the author, the languages of the republics are replacing Russian, and this is affecting Russian political influence over the young states. However, that's not the case in Ukraine and Belarus, where control by the Kremlin through language is still widely perceived. The author quoted a political analyst as saying that the population of Ukraine and Belarus is still considered in Russia "an integral part of the united Russian people", an attitude that can also relate to the Baltic states and central Asia republics.

Further information:

• RFE/RL: Russian Supreme Court Orders Tatarstan To Change Language Law
• IPS: RUSSIA: The Language of Influence Weakens
• Nationalia:Petition of online signatures to seek official status for Tatar language in Russia

See the dossier Peoples and nations today: Tatarstan for more information.