Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a law that excludes the Russian language from the list of languages subject to protection under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. This was reported by the Ukrinform agency, citing a Facebook post by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, BTA reports.
According to Stefanchuk, the adoption of the law is an important step both for the protection of the linguistic environment in Ukraine and for the implementation of the country's European commitments.
„The Russian language has been removed from the list of languages to which Ukraine applies the provisions of the Charter. This is a fair and logical decision. The language of the aggressor state cannot benefit from protection instruments designed to support the languages of indigenous peoples and national minorities,“ said the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament.
He also stressed that Ukraine continues to protect its state language, while respecting the linguistic and cultural diversity in the country. According to him, the new law eliminates privileges associated in the past with Russian imperial influence.
“This is a decision for the dignity, justice and linguistic security of Ukraine,“ said Stefanchuk.
The law signed by Zelensky removes for the Russian language the protection provided for in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages – an international treaty of the Council of Europe, which Ukraine has ratified, notes Agence France-Presse.
The change does not mean a ban on the Russian language in Ukraine. However, with the adoption of the law, the state is no longer obliged to provide special public services in Russian and is given the opportunity to limit the teaching of this language.
According to official data, before the start of the war, which was launched by Russia on February 24, 2022, nearly a third of the population of Ukraine used Russian as their main language of communication. This applies mainly to the eastern and southern regions of the country.
Studies show that the use of the Russian language has decreased since the beginning of the Russian invasion. At the same time, the linguistic picture remains complex due to the fact that Russia controls about 19 percent of the territory of Ukraine.
According to Agence France-Presse, the issue of the status of the Russian language has been among the topics that have been causing tension in the country for years. It was precisely the disputes over language policy that were cited as one of the factors in the outbreak of the Moscow-backed separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine in 2014.