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Ukraine to exclude Russian, Belarusian from list of languages subject to support

The Ukrainian cabinet of ministers has approved the list of changes to some laws due to an updated official translation of the so-called European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. Russian and Belarusian will be excluded from the list of languages subject to support and special protection in Ukraine, representative of the Ukrainian cabinet in the local parliament Taras Melnichuk said.

The Ukrainian cabinet of ministers has approved the list of changes to some laws due to an updated official translation of the so-called European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. This document provides for the preservation of these languages in the country, the promotion of their use in oral and written form, public and private life, and ensuring appropriate ways of teaching and studying them.

"It is proposed to update the list of languages subject to the relevant regime of support and special protection under the Charter. For instance, it is provided that in Ukraine, the provisions of the Charter will be applied to the following languages: Bulgarian, Gagauz, Crimean Tatar, Modern Greek, German, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Hungarian, Czech and Hebrew," Melnichuk wrote on his Telegram channel.

The state language law has been in effect in Ukraine since 2019. According to it, the Russian language which according to the 2001 census 29.6% of the country’s population consider native must disappear from all spheres of public life. Fines for violating this law have been in effect since 2021, in 2024, punishment was introduced for "public humiliation or offense to the state language," while attempts to establish multilinguality in the country are equated to actions directed at undermining the constitutional order.

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