"Language findings" of 2011 remain relevant for Ukraine - Venice Commission

It indicates that the findings and recommendations made by the Venice Commission in 2011 remain relevant for Ukraine now. The document was published on the website of the Venice Commission.

"The Venice Commission has already had the occasion to examine provisions pertaining to the protection of languages in Ukraine in 2011, when it was asked by the Ukrainian authorities to assess two draft laws dealing with the issue of languages. The findings and recommendations contained in its 2011 assessment remain entirely relevant for the purpose of the present opinion," the document reads.

In 2011, the Commission stressed that “the use and the protection of languages has been and remains, in Ukraine, a complex and highly sensitive issue, which has repeatedly become one of the main topics in different election campaigns and continues to be subject of debate - and sometimes to raise tensions - within the Ukrainian society” and that “[t]he balance between regional and/or minority language protection and the protection of Ukrainian as the state language, including the specific situation of the Russian language, continues to be a serious challenge for the authorities of Ukraine”.

As known, on Friday, December 8, the Venice Commission made public its conclusions concerning Ukraine’s law on education, in particular concerning teaching in the state language and languages of national minorities.

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