[lg policy] Ukraine: Zaporizhia Regional Council Grants Russian Status Of Regional Language

[Harold Schiffman]

Zaporizhia Regional Council Grants Russian Status Of Regional Language
(12:23, Thursday, August 16, 2012)

Ukrainian News Agency

The Zaporizhia Regional Council at its extraordinary session on
Thursday has passed a decision on realization of provisions from the
Law on Principles of the State Language Policy, which supposes
granting Russian status of a regional language in the region. This
decision received votes of 79 out of the 81 registered Councilors (the
Council has 100 seats in all). In his report before considering the
draft resolution the regional council chairman, Pavlo Matvienko, asked
the Councilors to support it.

The document notes, on basis of the data provided by the region's
general office for statistics 48.19% of the population called Russian
their mother tongue in 2001 and representatives of 16 language groups
were residing in the region. The document was passed in the framework
of realization of provisions from the Law on Principles of the State
Language Policy, which had taken effect.

According to the resolution, to the notice of territorial masses and
local councils will be brought the following: Russian as a regional
language is used on the region's territory in the work of bodies of
state power and local self-government, applied and studied in the
state and communal educational establishments, and also used in other
spheres of social life.

Local councils in the region are recommended to consider the issue of
taking measures on relevant territories aimed at using other regional
or minority languages stipulated by the current legislation.

Also the regional administration is recommended to determine expenses
required for implementation of the decision and take into account when
making amendments to the regional budget for the ongoing year and
preparing draft regional budget for 2013.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, on August 8 President Viktor
Yanukovych signed the bill into law, stipulating official usage of
regional languages in the work of local bodies of power, if at least
10% of the inhabitants are the language native speakers.

In the context of the European Charter for Regional and Minority
Languages the law on the language policy envisages the measures to use
18 languages.

On August 16, the Sevastopol Municipal Council granted Russian status
of a regional language in the city.

On August 13, the Odesa Municipal Council passed a decision under
which Russian was granted status of a regional language in the city.

On August 15, the Odesa Regional Council passed a decision to grant
Russian status of a regional language.

The Krasnyi Luch Town Council, Luhansk region on August 14 decided to
duplicate texts in official documents in Russian alongside Ukrainian.

On August 15, the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea
instructed the Council of Ministers before October 10 to prepare and
bring in the Crimean parliament for consideration proposals for the
realisation in the region of the Law on Principles of the State
Language Policy.

http://un.ua/eng/article/405956.html

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