Van Rompuy and Barroso welcome Russia's role in Crimea. Possibly?

(BRUSSELS2) The Presidents of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and of the European Commission José-Manuel Barroso welcome of the holding of the Crimean referendum held today ". They insist on greet the dynamic and unprovoked role played by Russia on this issue ". And " call on EU foreign ministers to take action to support the return of Russian armed forces to their barracks ". Here is what a free translation of their latest communicated could give... if European journalists were not a little scrupulous and better connoisseurs of languages ​​than our two European presidents and their entourage. English having become the only language in which they want to communicate...

Joint statement by President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso on Crimea

European Commission - STATEMENT/14/71 16/03/2014

Other languages ​​available: none

Fed up !

Eh yes. I'm overwhelmed. Tired of constantly translating press releases - whose English is sometimes more of a badly mastered google translate than of the language of Shakespeare -. Tired of spending precious minutes of my time doing the work that the European institutions do not want to do. Tired of having to add a little text to put back into good French (and even good English) sometimes incomprehensible sentences, if we translate them literally. Embarrassed that there is sort of a "double standard". The European Union is constantly lecturing third countries – Ukraine or Russia most recently – to respect the rights of minorities, in particular linguistic ones. But its representatives are unable to do the same. Not because they don't speak these languages ​​(JM Barroso and H Van Rompuy express themselves perfectly in French). But because they don't want to. However, we dare not remind them that the practice of all European languages ​​is not a faculty. But an obligation. The European treaties having placed all languages ​​on an equal footing.

A democratic question

It is totally incomprehensible that for statements as politically important as the one published today on Ukraine and Crimea, no attempt is made to publish them in several languages. And do not come to invoke the emergency: the situation had been very clear for several days. And it was perfectly possible to prepare such a document in several languages. Moreover, it is a political as well as a democratic question, as the European Commission itself writes on its own website :

“As a democratic entity, the European Union must communicate with citizens in their own language, as well as with national governments and public administrations, businesses and other organisations, across the EU. Europeans have the right to know what decisions are taken in their name. They must also have the opportunity to participate actively in the construction of Europe without having to learn other languages. »

Why not in Russian and Ukrainian

Going as far as 24 official languages ​​is perhaps a tad irrational. But it would be, at least, necessary and opportune to fully respect the translation in the three working languages ​​(English, French, German). And if necessary translate it into the languages ​​of the countries more particularly concerned. A press release concerning Ukraine could thus have been usefully translated into Polish and Romanian, for example (two countries particularly affected by this news). And even if it means making a press release, it would have been particularly effective if it had been translated into Ukrainian or Russian (*). You might as well be heard and understood by those for whom it is intended!