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This article deals with the situation of the Belarusian language in Belarus in competition with the Russian language and Belarusian-Russian mixed speech, both of which are widely used by the young generation in the country. Based on a nationwide survey with 1,000 respondents carried out in 2013, we show how young Belarusians see their first linguistic socialisation and how they evaluate the different linguistic codes in various contexts. The article then describes how and to what extent the respondents’ self-reported competence in Belarusian varies with sociodemographic characteristics and (geo-)political preferences with regard to a “Western” or “Eastern orientation”. Finally, it discusses the question whether young Belarusians favour promoting Belarusian and whether a pro-Belarusian attitude correlates with political preferences. The article provides evidence for the peripheral status of Belarusian in Belarus, but it also shows that there is support for the maintenance and even promotion of Belarusian, which is only slightly affected by global political orientations.
