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Ukrainian parliament votes for Russian language’s regional status

The bill was approved by a 248-majority vote
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

KIEV, July 3 (Itar-Tass) — The Ukrainian parliament has approved of a bill on the basic principles of the government’s language policies, thereby awarding the regional status to the Russian language in 13 regions of Ukraine’s 27. The bill was approved by a 248-majority vote. The minimum majority required is 226.

The bill preserves the status of Ukrainian as the sole state language, but at the same time expands the rights of ethnic minorities. In each region where an ethnic minority exceeds ten percent of the population the language of that minority enjoys a special status.