Speech of the Chairman of the Supreme Council Vladimir Konstantinov at the grand opening of the V International Festival "The Great Russian Word"

Dear guests, fellow countrymen!

The fifth time the Crimea will be a place of scale and variety of activities related to the rich and unique Russian culture.

Festival "Great Russian Word" was gone beyond the local scope of the Crimean campaign. It becomes a notable event in the social life of our country.

The festival contributes to the consolidation of the Russian language in Ukraine, strengthening the humanitarian cooperation of the brotherly Slavonic peoples.

Its rich program includes conferences, debates, concerts, artists, meetings with politicians and cultural figures. During the week events will be held in most towns and districts of the peninsula.

At the opening ceremony the delegations in many regions of our country and brotherly Russia are present.

On behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of autonomy and the organizing committee I welcome our distinguished guests and participants of festival.

We express our sincere gratitude to all those who contributed to the implementation of this grand cultural project.

I wish you good work and bright holiday experiences.

It is deeply symbolic and traditional that the festival opens on the birthday of Alexander Pushkin, "the sun of Russian poetry."

The cultural history of each people has a name, which is a symbol of spiritual stock of the nation, defining its moral height.

For the Russian people this name is Pushkin!

Among the many brilliant and internationally recognized figures of Russian literature, music, art and science, Pushkin the most fully embodied the ideal of Russian culture, Russian nationality.

The immortal lines of valor of the ancestors and pride of their deeds and accomplishments, sublime love and fidelity to friendship of the poet remain as attractive as it is for older generations.

And this is the greatness of a poet and a citizen!

For all the universality of Pushkin's work, he, like anyone else, has managed thoroughly and comprehensively to convey the Russia.

According to Gogol, "the Russian nature, the Russian soul, the Russian character ... clean and refined beauty" was reflected in it.

In today's turbulent world of alienation and conflict between countries and peoples, Pushkin's respect to other nations is instructive. He believed that the time would come when "people will reunite in a single family and they will forget about their quarrels."

Alexander Sergeevich said that he had spent "happiest moments of life" in the Crimea. He is one of the first Russian poets, who devoted its ecstatic string Crimea, "a magical land where the luxuries of nature are quickened by groves of the forest."

Ivan Bunin, Valeria Brusov, Osip Mandelstam, Maximilian Voloshin, Anna Akhmatova, Marina Tsvetaeva,

Vladimir Mayakovsky, Ilya Selvinsky, Joseph Brodsky and many other masters of poetic speech were inspired by the Crimean muse.

We are proud of our small homeland, holy cherish the cultural heritage of the past.

Crimeans understand the civilizational belonging to the "Russian world". For us, people of different cultures and traditions, the Russian language is not only the language of international communication, but is also the keeper of general historical memory of peoples.

Currently, the basic principles of rusofonii are formed - the world of Russian language and culture. Belonging to the "Russian world" should be regarded as a common extra-national, non-state ideology.

I categorically do not accept the statement of some politicians about the "cultural imperialism and colonization," which supposedly takes place in Ukraine from Russia. Dialogue between cultures is to become an instrument of peaceful solution of political and economic problems.

I appeal to the distinguished guests, the people of business and culture of Ukraine and Russia. We expect you the action to strengthen the bilateral brotherly relations.

Our president Viktor Yanukovych does reform exercise in domestic and foreign policy of the state, including the humanitarian sphere.

Most of the citizens of Ukraine welcome the ending of a sort of "cold war" between Russia and Ukraine.

UNESCO had been proclaimed the XXI century - the century of polyglots.

The bouquet of World Languages the ​​Russian language is one of the brightest flowers. Ukraine should become an example of linguistic pluralism.

Virtually every citizen of Ukraine has two tongues. Russian culture and language is an essential asset of our state.

Bilingualism – the dictation of the time!

Throughout the world, as in Ukraine, the expansion of mass commercial culture is reinforced.

It threatens not only the identity of Russian culture, but also Ukrainian. Defending the Russian language, we are strengthening the legal framework and other regional languages ​​of our country. We are obliged for our descendants to maintain our "great and powerful" language. In this connection I wish to recall the words of Anna Akhmatova.

She told it at a difficult time for the motherland. For a generation of our fathers and grandfathers, it was a kind of an oath:

We will preserve you, Russian speech,

Free and clear we will carry you,

And we will give our grandchildren.

From bondage we’ll protect

Dear friends! International Festival "The Great Russian word" is opened!