Venice Commission publishes recommendations on Ukrainian law on national minorities

13.06.2023 14:40

Ukrinform

The Venice Commission issued an opinion on the 'Law on National Minorities (Communities)', the adoption of which was mentioned among the European Commission's recommendations for granting Ukraine candidate status for EU membership.

This is reported on the website of the Venice Commission, according to Ukrinform.

In general, the Commission welcomed the adoption of the law on national minorities in Ukraine and noted the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities in preparing the opinion on it. In order to fully comply with international standards, the Commissioners recommend revising a number of provisions of the law.

Most of the recommendations relate to the use of national minority languages, as provided for in Article 10 of the law. Among other things, the Venice Commission calls for extending the right to hold events in national minority languages to all people and removing the obligation to provide Ukrainian translation "or at least reviewing it based on the principle of proportionality."

The experts also ask to review the obligations related to the publication of books in national minority languages and to clarify the issue of translation of "inscriptions of official titles and information for general information in a minority language" and to adopt a methodology for the use of minority languages in public authorities (the law provides that it should be developed by the government).

As reported by Ukrinform, in December 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the European integration law "On National Minorities (Communities) of Ukraine" (draft law No. 8224). The decision was supported by 324 MPs.

The document, in particular, establishes the definition of "national minorities (communities)", their rights, freedoms and obligations. It also defines the peculiarities of the state policy on the realization of the rights and freedoms of persons belonging to national minorities (communities), in particular the peculiarities of financial support for the implementation of such a policy, the powers of the central executive body implementing the state policy in the field of protection of the rights and freedoms of persons belonging to national minorities (communities).