BISHKEK, May 25 (RIA Novosti) - A campaign to maintain the official status of the Russian language has been launched in the Central Asian Republic of Kyrgyzstan, a local party said Thursday.
The Kyrgyz authorities announced earlier that the Kyrgyz language would be used in all official spheres from January 1, 2007.
The Commonwealth party said this decision "would affect economic relations with Russia and other members of the CIS [a loose association of former Soviet republics] as it might complicate the exchange of information."
The party, known as a supporter of further integration within the CIS, also said it would boost migration of the Russian-speaking population from Kyrgyzstan and provoke negative attitude toward Kyrgyz laborers abroad.
The party said 500,000 Kyrgyz labor migrants, 10% of the country's population, were currently working in Russia and they provided an inflow of $200-mln a year, according to official information.
