Friday, November 24 2023 18:53

ArmInfo. Politically, there can be different attitudes toward Russia, but Russian culture's great  role in the modern world can by no means be denied, Armenia's Premier Nikol Pashinyan stated during his live broadcast as he answered a citizen's question as to whether Armenia needs Russian language and  culture.  

According to him, everything can be questioned, but this "everything"  will be illegitimate in the case of Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky and  Shostakovich. "We can name hundreds more names in all spheres -  culture, politics, science," said the head of the Armenian  government, recalling at the same time his statement that there will  be no other official language in Armenia other than Armenian.  However, as Pashinyan noted, he himself encourages schoolchildren to  study more foreign languages, including Russian. "In the modern  world, bilingualism is very important in terms of increasing the  competitiveness of both the individual and the state. This is  especially important in the context of deep economic, cultural and  political ties between Armenia and Russia," Pashinyan said. 

In this context, he pointed to the main group of native Russian  speakers in Armenia - the relocated employees. Pashinyan emphasized  that Armenia is glad to host them. "They write blogs and share their  impressions of Armenia. I looked at a couple of such materials and  gave instructions to study the impressions of these people. Often,  Armenians themselves do not know themselves that well, but an outside  glance can reveal something new and interesting," the premier said.