Ukraine to require civil servants learn English language

President Petro Poroshenko said here Thursday that Ukraine will launch a government program making knowledge of English language mandatory requirement for civil servants.

"Knowledge of English will be a key criterion for an employment in the public sector," President Poroshenko said in his annual address to parliament.

The implementation of the program to popularize English among Ukrainians will start next year, he said, adding that 2016 will be declared a "Year of English language" in Ukraine.

Although Kiev would intensify its efforts to improve the general public's capability to speak English, the Ukrainian language development will remain the priority for the state, Poroshenko stressed.

The presidential initiative has triggered astonishment among some local politicians, who said that currently it is not a proper time to touch the language issue, which is quite sensitive in Ukraine, in the light of more significant challenges facing the country.

"The priority for civil servants is knowledge and the ability to speak Ukrainian," said lawmaker Oleg Lyashko, adding that job creation currently is a more pressing task for government than the popularization of English.

Currently, Ukrainian is the only official and working language in the East European country.

According to the recent opinion poll, conducted by the Kiev- based International Institute of Sociology, about one-third of Ukrainians support granting Russian the status of second national language in Ukraine. Endite