Moldovans more fond of Russian

Gallup Polls reveal increasingly favorable attitudes toward learning the Russian language in several post-Soviet states, most notably in Georgia, Moldova, and Armenia, Info-Prim Neo reports. In Moldova, the percentage of respondents saying it is very important for their children to learn Russian rose 12 percentage points, from 27% to 39%, between 2006 and 2007. This likely reflects a thaw between Moscow and Chisinau resulting from the return of Moldovan wines and meat to the Russian domestic market. Despite the prolonged tension between Moscow and Tbilisi, in Georgia, 64% of respondents said it is "very important" for Georgian children to learn Russian, compared with the 43% who said so in 2006. Despite the small percentage of Armenian respondents (3%) who asked to take the survey in Russian, the percentage of respondents' saying it is very important for their children to learn Russian increased two points (from 73% to 75%) from 2006 to 2007. 23% of Moldovans agreed to take the survey in Russian. The Russian language's official status is granted in only three of the countries surveyed -- Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. In three other countries -- Moldova, Ukraine, and Tajikistan -- Russian is identified as a "language of interethnic communication." As Gallup Polls comments, Russian is currently one of the top 10 spoken languages in the world, but some estimate the number of people speaking Russian is declining. In many Central and Eastern European countries, older generations often associate Russian with compulsory lessons under communism. Throughout the post-Soviet years, Moscow has stressed the significance of the Russian language as one of communication and trust, of great literature, and of global science. In contrast, some opponents have branded it as a remnant of imperialism, and they have encouraged a new generation toward fluency in their own national language.