Ukrainian Parliament removes Russian from list of languages requiring special protection in Ukraine

The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) has adopted in the first reading and as a whole draft law No. 14120, "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine in Connection with the Updated Official Translation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages." A total of 264 MPs voted in favour.

Source: Volodymyr Viatrovych, MP and public figure

Quote from Viatrovych: "The Russian language is no longer protected in Ukraine by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Moments ago, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in full the draft law which approves the correct translation of the Charter and removes Russian and the non-existent Moldavian language from the ratification law.

Instead, the Charter remains in force for all other languages previously covered, and has now been extended to Urum, Rumeika, Romani, Czech, Krymchak, Karaim and Yiddish."

Details: The decision was also supported by Olena Ivanovska, the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language.

"This is a decision the country has awaited for many years. Parliament has approved the correct translation of the European Charter: the Russian and the non-existent Moldavian languages no longer appear in the ratification law as languages requiring special protection," the language commissioner stated.

She recalled that back in 2021, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine obliged state bodies to remove uncertainty and ensure an official, accurate translation of the Charter.

"Today we have finally restored historical justice and turned the page on years of distortions which were used for political pressure and to legitimise Russification. We have demonstrated our maturity as a European state," Olena Ivanovska stressed.

Background: Earlier, draft law No. 14120 risked being withdrawn from consideration due to "pressure from unnamed Russian lobbyists in the Council of Europe".

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