Justice ministry places language policy on public agenda

The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine is submitting the draft Concept of the National Lingual Policy to public consideration. The draft was worked out by the National Commission for Strengthening Democracy and Asserting the Supremacy of Law, reports the justice ministry’s press service.

According to the press service, there is no clear-cut and harmonious concept of the national lingual policy, definitions of its principles or the legal and organizational principles of the development and application of the official language and the languages of the ethnic minorities. The existing national lingual policy is controversial and this causes social instability and mounting tensions resulting in political problems.

The justice ministry stresses that the issue of formulation and implementation of Ukraine’s lingual policy is a major national political priority; it is meant as a strategic factor in securing the right of citizens to use their mother tongue, regardless of ethnic origin — which has a direct bearing on human rights and liberties, reports Forum.