By Dr. Matthew Frear
Russia’s
intervention in Ukraine has often been justified in terms of defending the
interests of ethnic Russians. According to the 2009 national census, almost 800,000 Russians live in
Belarus – 8.3% of the population. As the titular nationality, Belarusians are
actually in quite a strong position – ethnic Belarusians make up a larger
proportion of the population of Belarus than Ukrainians do in Ukraine or
Russians do in the Russian Federation.
There are
less Russians in Belarus than Ukraine as a proportion of population, but more
Russian speakers. Based on the 2009 census again, Russian is the mother tongue
of 41.5% of the population, but the language of convenience commonly used at
home for 70% of the population. Russian is already an official language
alongside Belarusian however, and it would be difficult to claim that rights of
Russian speakers are being suppressed.
