Trapped in the Quadratic Nexus: The Role of the Language Issue in Ukraine’s Conflict

Vasilevich, Hanna (2024) Trapped in the Quadratic Nexus: The Role of the Language Issue in Ukraine’s Conflict. HUNGARIAN JOURNAL OF MINORITY STUDIES, 7. pp. 123-141. ISSN 2560-080X

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Abstract

Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine has resulted in the need to reassess all of Ukraine’s previous ethnolinguistic and identity policies that have been enacted since its independence. Internal contradictions within Ukraine and the vulnerability of its policies were skillfully used by Russia in 2014, resulting in the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the war in the Donbass region. For a genuinely bilingual state, such as Ukraine, language policies are among those topics that trigger strong emotions in society. This text analyzes the language-related rhetoric of foreign actors within the context of Russia’s ongoing aggression. Assuming Russia’s claims against Ukraine, the text applies Rogers Brubaker’s triadic nexus theory adjusted to David Smith’s quadratic nexus, taking into account Ukraine’s geopolitical preferences crystallized in the country’s European integration. Based on the analysis of the language-related legislation and official statistics, the text concludes that Ukraine failed to elaborate consistent language policies that address the needs of all its diverse regions in a balanced manner. It also shows that Ukraine was late in the objective assessment of Russia’s threat that stemmed from ethnic and linguistic domains.

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