Romanian diplomacy and Ukraine

Romania hopes Ukraine passes new minority language law as soon as possible, after talks with ethnic groups and the Venice Commission.

Valentin Țigău, 05.03.2014, 13:58

The repeal of the laws on regional and minority languages was a strategic error of the new government in Ukraine, with many European countries and international institutions criticising the measure taken by the Parliament in Kiev shortly after Yanukovych was removed. While the repeal has not yet been signed into law by the interim president of the country, Olexander Turchinov, Ukrainian MPs are already considering new and better legislation on the matter.

In Bucharest, the State Secretary with the Foreign Ministry Bogdan Aurescu said, in an interview to Radio Romania, that during a telephone conversation, the Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean called on his Ukrainian counterpart Andrei Deshchica to ensure that the new legislation is adopted as soon as possible, following direct consultation with ethnic minorities, including the Romanian one, and with assistance from the Venice Commission and the UN High Commissioner on National Minorities. The two officials will also discuss the matter in a forthcoming meeting. What Romania wants, Aurescu added, is for the new Ukrainian legislation to be in line with the relevant European standards.

The repealed law was first enforced in July 2012 and recognised the languages spoken by ethnic minorities that account for at least 10% of the population in a particular region as regional languages. As a result, these languages can be used in schools, business and other fields. Romanian, which was one of these regional languages, is spoken by over 400,000 people in the Cernauti and Odessa regions in particular.

State Secretary Bogdan Aurescu said the Foreign Ministry will maintain a constant and direct dialogue both with the Ukrainian authorities and with the other countries with ethnic communities in Ukraine interested in the protection of minority languages in this country.

The dialogue between Bucharest and Kiev on the topic of national minorities has been somewhat difficult in the past. Romania’s president Traian Basescu has repeatedly called on Ukraine to give ethnic Romanians similar rights as those granted by Romania to its ethnic Ukrainian minority. “Whenever I have the chance”, Traian Basescu said “I mention Romania as a model for how national ethnic minorities should be treated”.