In Ukraine, they intend to transfer schools of national minorities, primarily Russian-speaking, to study in the Ukrainian language, said Minister of Education of the Republic Anna Novosad on the TV channel Direct.

“There are still Russian-language schools, but since September 2020, such schools are switching to the Ukrainian language of instruction. Schools of minority languages ​​belonging to the languages ​​of the European Union - since September 2023. Actually, we must prepare those and those for this transition, ”said Novosad.

At the same time, according to the Ukrainian minister, in such educational institutions there will still be an opportunity to learn native languages. So, in relation to Russian-speaking institutions, a separate subject and electives will be provided.

Such a decision violates human rights and contradicts European values, which Ukraine is committed to, said Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies.

“This not only violates the rights of minorities, but also human rights, is an action that is unacceptable from any point of view for a country that positions itself as part of Europe. This violation is not just human rights, but the principle of equality, which is enshrined in all Ukrainian laws, ”he told RT.

So, in order to join the European Union, the desire for which is already enshrined in the Ukrainian Constitution, it is necessary to meet the Copenhagen criteria, and they preserve the rights of ethnic minorities.

The fact that these rights are violated was announced at the end of July by the OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities Lamberto Zannier. In particular, he pointed to the provisions of the Ukrainian language law, which entered into force shortly before. According to this act, for example, speakers of EU languages ​​have more rights to use them than speakers of other languages.

“Such a classification suggests that unequal policies are being applied to different minorities, and this introduces elements of discrimination,” he emphasized.

  • A rally of Ukrainian nationalists
  • Reuters
  • © Gleb Garanich

Language Act

Recall that the law on language in Ukraine entered into force in mid-July, however, some of its provisions will be implemented until January 1, 2030. In accordance with this act, other languages, except Ukrainian, are eliminated not only from the judicial and political spheres, but also from the educational and cultural life of the population. Thus, the only areas where they can be used are private fellowship and religious rites.

So, even in the service sector, all employees should use only Ukrainian - this provision will enter into force in 2021. National television and radio stations will have to comply with quotas for the Ukrainian language in 90%, and local in 80%. The print media will be able to release materials in other languages ​​only if a circulation in Ukrainian was simultaneously released.

Each citizen of Ukraine, according to the text of the document, must speak the only state language. And all employees of state institutions, including doctors and public utilities, as well as lawyers and notaries, are required to use it in their service.

At the same time, the languages ​​of the EU countries are in a more privileged position - they are allowed to teach in schools as part of a separate subject. Other languages, in particular Russian, do not have this right.

This law was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada during the presidency of Petro Poroshenko, and signed by him in the last days of his post - at that time, in mid-May, he had already lost the election and soon had to transfer the powers of the head of state to Vladimir Zelensky.

The new president promised to analyze this law and make a decision on it. He argued that the rights of national minorities in Ukraine should be protected. Following the results of the early parliamentary elections, Zelensky was able to form a loyal parliament and cabinet, however, until now, the new authorities have not begun to analyze the law on language.

In an interview on the 1 + 1 television channel on the first hundred days of the presidency, Zelensky was asked whether this law would be revised. To this, the head of state noted that this is a “very difficult issue”, which will hit both him and the parliament “very hard”. At the same time, he said that a separate law was needed to protect the rights of national minorities.

“I am sure that there should be a bill on the protection of the rights of minorities and everything should be spelled out there - their language, faith,” Zelensky said.

Kiev does not proceed to resolve the issue of languages, because it sees a threat to itself in Russian, said Ukrainian political scientist and economist Alexander Dudchak. At the same time, he noted that this vision of the authorities is absolutely groundless.

“It really surprises why Vladimir Zelensky did not return to this issue. It is unclear what the authorities see such a threat from the Russian language in Ukraine. They see what people want, for which they voted. But still, what Poroshenko did with his gang continues. Apparently, there were no ideas about the change initially, ”he stated in an interview with RT.

  • Vladimir Zelensky during the inauguration
  • Reuters
  • © Valentyn Ogirenko

“We are not against the Ukrainian language”

Russia has repeatedly pointed out the discriminatory nature of the language law, including on international platforms. Thus, the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the Council of Europe called on the organization’s countries to respond to this document. And the Russian permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya turned to the Security Council to give an assessment of this regulatory act.

“We are not talking about the Ukrainian language, but about protecting the Russian language, which Kiev authorities began to eradicate with draconian means,” he emphasized on July 16.

According to him, Russian is preferred or native for most of the country's population. He referred to a study by the American Gallup Institute, conducted in 2008, according to which 83% of the country's population chose Russian in everyday communication.

The Federation Council believes that the policy pursued by Kiev will lead to the fact that the number of Russian-speaking population will be forcibly reduced.

“Such a decision violates the rights of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine, violates articles of the Constitution of the country, the European Charter on the languages ​​of national minorities ... More than half of Ukrainian citizens used the Russian language in everyday life. Today's policy will lead to the fact that the number of speakers in Russian will decrease. But this will cause additional damage to Ukraine as a state, ”said Sergei Tsekov, member of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, RT.

So, according to the company TNS, which conducted a sociological study, the results of which were published in June, Russian is used more often as the everyday language in the republic than Ukrainian.

However, only 35% of the population of Ukraine already consider Russian to be native, and only 31% support studying it at school. For comparison, it is only slightly more popular than German (24%) and three times inferior to English (95%).