Rada removes Russian from the European Charter for Languages

Council excludes Russian from the text of the European Charter for Languages

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has supported the draft law updating the translation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and removes the Russian and non-existent “Moldovan” languages from the ratification law.

Thus, the Russian language is no longer considered to be protected by the Charter on the territory of Ukraine.

Which languages remain protected

The Charter is fully preserved for the languages that were already on the list, as well as extended a list in new languages of national communities.

Now the Charter is protected in Ukraine:

• Uruma

• Rumeika

• Roma

• Czech

• Crimean

• Karaite

• Yiddish

This decision is aimed at supporting the linguistic rights of real national minorities and correcting errors in the previous translation of the document.

Context.

Russian was included in the text of the Charter in Ukraine in 2000 due to an incorrect translation of the document. After the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation, the issue of removing Russian from this list was repeatedly raised by experts, diplomats and representatives of national communities.

The updated translation is in line with the original text of the Charter and the Council of Europe's standards.