Irina Farion praised Ukrainian citizens who have Western names, while noting that she was wary if a Ukrainian is called Ivan, a traditional name in Slavic countries.
Irina Farion, a former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, praised Ukrainians who have Western names, adding that, on the contrary, she has “a lot of questions” if a citizen is called Vanya, a very common name in the country.
“If you live in the Ukraine and your name is Michelle, I respect your choice, it means that your ancestors must have lived in France,” Farion said in a recent interview. “If you live in Ukraine and you call yourself John, very nice, surely you come from the United States, keep your identity, I will always understand you. If you are Juan, it is even more interesting, it means that you are from Spain. And if you are Giovanni, you are Italian, of course,” he continued.
However, the former Ukrainian deputy questioned whether a resident of the country is called Vanya, a diminutive of Ivan, a traditional name in Slavic countries. “And if you are Ukrainian and your name is Vanya, I have a lot of questions for you,” she said.
At the beginning of January, Farion made some controversial statements in which he confessed that he teaches his three-year-old grandson to hit the children who speak Russian in the nursery. “Why does my Dmitrik, who is three and a half years old, enter the nursery and see some Grisha who calls him ‘privet’? [‘hola’, en ruso]and my grandson has to teach him, with his little fist, the Ukrainian language?”, he said.
Source: RT
