MOSCOW, November 28 (RAPSI) – The State Duma is supporting the idea of making Russian an official European Union language, State Duma Defense Committee Member Alexei Zhuravlyov (United Russia) said at a roundtable discussion on the current state and prospects of Russia's language policy held by the lower house on Thursday.

“In his time, Vice President Dmitry Rogozin advanced a breakthrough initiative. He proposed making Russian an official language in the European Union,” Zhuravlyov said.

“We can do this now, since the amendments which became effective on April 1, 2012 allow EU citizens to propose making their native tongue an official language in the EU if their proposition attracts the required 1 million signatures,” Zhuravlyov said.

He said that attracting 1 million signatures should not be a problem given that there are many Russian communities in the EU, plus organizations like Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian federal agency that promotes international cooperation.