140,000 Signatures For Languages Law
On November 28, representatives of SDPU(o) regional branches gave their parliamentary fraction 140,000 ethnic-minority signatures collected by party activists in support of the SDPU(o) demand that the Ukrainian parliament pass a new law On Languages in line with the basic provisions of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. As Oleh Oboyantsev, member of the SDPU(o) Executive Committee, told The Day, the collection of signatures was prompted by the fact that public opinion polls in some regions — including the Crimea Republic, Vinnytsia, and Chernivtsi oblasts — showed it was time to raise this point in Verkhovna Rada. According to People’s Deputy Oleksandr Zinchenko, the collection of signatures is “primarily human-rights action.” Mr. Zinchenko believes that parliament should take into consideration the interests of ethnic groups which have the right to educational instruction, publish newspapers, and prepare radio and television programs in their native languages. Now that the Constitutional Court has invalidated the parliamentary resolution on adhering to the European Charter, it is necessary to avoid a legal confrontation. Otherwise, he stated, we are bound to face serious conflicts. Thus, in his opinion, Verkhovna Rada must pass a law on the rights of minorities to use their mother tongues. Moreover, the deputy believes, such a law will in no way belittle the role of Ukrainian, which was and still is the official language compulsory in official documents. The only question is to legally define the status of the language used by an ethnic minority on a territory where this is feasible. For, according to Olha Pariyenko, member of the SDPU(o) Crimean regional party branch, there were Armenian, Bulgarian, Tartar, and other schools before World War II, and it is now time to restore this at a new democratic level. Also, she pointed out, official recognition of the status of minority languages would make it possible to publish textbooks and prepare television and radio programs at an adequate level of professional quality. In addition, this would diffuse the language problem from becoming one more hot spot, against the backdrop of our economic hardships.
PS
On November 30 the Verkhovna Rada debate on the Languages in Ukraine bills triggered a conflict between Left and Right. Speaking from the podium, KPU faction member Pavlo Baulin called the Right faction members “rabid Galicians” (from Western Ukraine, where the real hard-core Ukrainians are — Ed.) who only care about the Ukrainian language, Interfax- Ukraine reports. These Galicians (members of both Rukh factions) reacted in the blink of an eye, forming a circle around the rostrum with the Communist on it. However, the conflict was soon settled and the deputies resumed work. They discussed a total of four language bills in the first reading, three of which continue to designate Ukrainian as the official language, while the fourth proposes to assign this status to both Ukrainian and Russian. It will be recalled that Article 10 of the Constitution of Ukraine says, “...Ukraine guarantees the free development, usage, and protection of the Russian and other minority languages.” But so far, in spite of the Constitution, the language situation in this country has de facto been left to local authorities.
