Matilda Bogner, the head of the UN monitoring mission on human rights in Ukraine, said on September 17 that the organization called on the Kiev authorities to draft a law on the rights of national minorities and indigenous peoples. In particular, Bogner noted that such measures are necessary after the adoption in Ukraine of a law on strengthening the role of the Ukrainian language as the state language.

“In order to ensure a fair balance between the protection of minority rights, freedom of expression and the promotion of the state language as an instrument for the unity of society, we urge the Cabinet of Ministers to develop a law on the rights of national minorities and indigenous peoples with priority on the basis of inclusiveness and consultation,” quoted by Bogner Interfax Agency.

Recall that the law, which enhances the role of the Ukrainian language as the state language, entered into force on July 16, 2019. According to this document, representatives of national minorities can receive secondary education in their own language until 2023, after which they must switch to Ukrainian.

The law also stipulates that all officials, law enforcement officials and military personnel, education and medical personnel, lawyers and notaries and public and public services officials will be required to speak the state language.

Also, the state will ensure the use of the Ukrainian language in the field of culture, will establish it as the language of television and radio broadcasting. Service and healthcare sectors will be required to switch to the state language.

A RT source in the Batkivshchyna party said that a statement by a UN functionary is a “signal” that the political establishment of the West is dissatisfied with the language law.

“As far as I know, at meetings with Zelensky the norms of“ language law ”were repeatedly raised by Western partners. But the president is now paying more attention to domestic politics. But in vain. Everyone knows that Ukraine is now under external control and partners are dissatisfied with the language law. Therefore, the decision of the UN monitoring mission is a signal to pay attention to this issue, ”the source said.

An RT source in the Golos party notes that the UN statement is worrying.

“There is no triumph of law in Ukraine. One parliament and president passes a law on language, another wants to repeal it. What is this talking about? About chaos in the adoption of laws in Ukraine. This is impossible in any civilized country, ”said a member of the political association.

The deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, Vladimir Shapovalov, in a conversation with RT recalled that the Ukrainian language law violates all the principles and norms of interethnic relations and the life of national minorities in a modern democratic state.

“Even if the UN closed its eyes to this process, it would be very difficult to ignore it. It is important that the international structure drew attention to this flagrant injustice and discredit that we have been observing in Ukraine over the past five years, ”the expert emphasized.

Neighbor Concern

The adoption by the former president of Petro Poroshenko of the laws on the education and exclusive use of the Ukrainian language aroused serious concern of Ukraine’s Eastern European neighbors for the situation of national minorities living in the west of the country. So, Hungary, Poland and Romania expressed their dissatisfaction.

In early March 2018, the Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Siyyarto even accused Kiev of a “brutal attack” on national minorities.

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In response, the administration of Petro Poroshenko accused Budapest of meddling in the internal affairs of Ukraine.

Due to the situation with national minorities, Hungary vetoed Ukraine’s negotiations with NATO until the right to study in their native language is returned to Transcarpathian Hungarians.

This is not the first time that the United Nations has paid attention to the problematic laws on the state language adopted in Ukraine. So, on July 16, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Rosemary Dicarlo, during a meeting of the Security Council, expressed hope that the Ukrainian authorities would ensure the linguistic rights of national minorities.

Then the functionary of the organization stated the need for a thorough analysis of the law on the state language in the country.

“We hope that this will create opportunities for further measures to ensure the rights of minorities,” DiCarlo said.

They criticized the language policy of Ukraine and the OSCE. So, the high commissioner of the organization, Lamberto Zannier, said on July 29, 2019 that the language policy in Ukraine violates the rights of national minorities and introduces elements of discrimination.

“One of today's problems is the implementation of the recommendations of the Council of Europe. For example, this concerns the separation between the languages ​​of the European Union and everyone else. Such a classification suggests that an unequal policy is being pursued with respect to various national minorities, and this introduces elements of discrimination, ”the Izvestia newspaper quotes Zannier.

He emphasized that the law "On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language" adopted in Ukraine does not say anything about protecting the languages ​​of national minorities.

In this case, the UN should not fight for the introduction of new legislation, but for the repeal of the law that was signed by Petro Poroshenko at the end of his career and which actually means discrimination of a number of ethnic ethnic communities and languages, said Bohdan, a member of the Council on Interethnic Relations under the President of Russia Bezpalko.

“Perhaps it would be worth insisting on the implementation by Ukraine of the European Charter for regional languages ​​or demanding that it comply with its own constitutional norms, the work of the constitutional court together with representatives of national minorities, including representatives of the Russian-speaking community,” said the political scientist.

Vladimir Shapovalov noted that the UN has many levers of pressure on Ukraine through decisions taken by international authorities, because this country is in a state of severe economic crisis and depends on the outside world.

“But to solve this problem, it is necessary that all countries of the world take a consolidated position. Today, the West verbally expresses support for the Ukrainian people, but in fact it actually protects the Ukrainian state from criticism from international authorities and from other countries such as Russia. Indulging Ukrainian politicians and nationalists seriously affects the policies that are implemented in Ukraine, because Ukrainian nationalists, enjoying the support of the United States and some European countries, feel completely unpunished, ”said the expert.

Zelensky's position

It is worth noting that in April 2019, the elected president of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said that the law on the exclusive use of the Ukrainian language “became a hostage” of political rhetoric and was adopted without sufficient discussion with the public.

Then he promised that after taking office, his administration would conduct a thorough analysis of this law to ensure that it respected the constitutional rights and interests of all citizens of Ukraine.

In late August, Vladimir Zelensky announced the need to develop a bill on the protection of the rights of national minorities.

“I am sure that there should be a bill to protect the rights of minorities, and everything should be spelled out there - their language, faith,” he said in an interview with 1 + 1 television channel.

A source in the Party of the Servant of the People party told RT that Kiev’s western partners are unhappy with the fact that in Ukraine languages ​​of ethnic minorities are in fact oppressed.

“Zelensky is ready to repeal the law on language, the norms of which he considers discriminatory. The parliament is ready to vote for any initiatives of the president, so there will be no problems with the repeal of the law, ”the source said.

In turn, the representative of the European Solidarity party believes that such a decision by Zelensky can lead to protests by nationalists and radicals.

“Nationalists will oppose, so protests may arise. As I understand it, for this they left Arsen Avakov as the Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in order to eliminate all protests. Apparently, Zelensky hopes for this when he repeals the law on language adopted by the previous Rada, ”the deputy said in a comment to RT.

Vladimir Zelensky should have resolutely opposed this law even at the time of its adoption, when he was already an active politician, participated in election campaigns and could clearly and clearly state his position on this issue, Vladimir Shapovalov believes. However, now the president of Ukraine has the opportunity to improve the situation by repealing this law, the expert added.

“Zelensky is currently the president of hope in the eyes of the population and has a tremendous level of support among citizens. The expectations that Ukrainian citizens have are primarily associated with the cessation of hostilities, the normalization of the situation in the Southeast and the cessation of the destructive policies that Kiev pursued in recent years. The new leader now has a wide window of opportunity to convert this confidence mandate that he received from the population into those measures that will receive the support of the population, ”the expert concluded.