Regional languages ​​of Ukraine

Regional languages ​​of Ukraine are languages ​​that are traditionally used within a certain territory of Ukraine by its citizens, who make up a group, smaller in number than the rest of the population of Ukraine, and / or differ from the official language (s) of Ukraine ^[1] .

The regional languages ​​of Ukraine are only the languages ​​of the country's historical autochthonous minorities. They cannot be foreign languages ​​(for example, Spanish), whose speakers are not connected with the territory of Ukraine by long historical ties, despite the fact that the number of people who can speak them may exceed the number of people who speak a minority regional language (for example, Karaite ).

The law “ On ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ” defines a list of 13 regional languages: Belarusian , Bulgarian , Hungarian , Gagauz , Yiddish , Crimean Tatar , Moldavian , German , modern Greek , Polish , Romanian , Russian and Slovak ^[3] .

The Law of Ukraine “On the Basics of State Language Policy” provides a list of 18 regional languages: Armenian , Belarusian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Gagauz, Yiddish, Karaite , Crimean Tatar, Krymchak , Moldavian, German, Modern Greek, Polish, Romanian, Ruthenian , Russian, Slovak and Roma (gypsy) . At the same time, local councils of all levels are entitled to introduce other regional languages. This will become possible if the number of people speaking a language, like their own, in the corresponding territory, is at least 10% of the total population ^[4] . The number of speakers of a particular language group will be determined on the basis of data from the All-Ukrainian Population Census, which is carried out every 10 years ^[3] .

The Russian language claims the widest territorial coverage. Under this law, it has the right to be considered regional in 13 of 27 regions of the country, including both cities of republican subordination - Kiev and Sevastopol .

In 2003, Ukraine ratified the 1992 European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ​​and adopted the Law of Ukraine On Ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which entered into force on January 1, 2006 . April 6, 2011 The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the allocation of funds to support the regional languages ​​of Ukraine ^[5] .

Nevertheless, the consequences of the Russification policy are still being felt. So, as of 2011, 33% of the population of Ukraine are native speakers of the regional language. However, only 14.1% of Ukrainian children are brought up in pre-school institutions in their native regional language. Moreover, schools teaching in regional or minority languages ​​in Ukraine close 1.5 times more often than Ukrainian-speaking and 6 times more often than Russian-speaking, despite the fact that the average classes are crowded (for example, in Crimean Tatar - 1 , 2 times compared with the middle Ukrainian-speaking class and 3 times compared with the middle Russian-speaking class).

Draft Law of Ukraine "On the Languages ​​of Ukraine" No. 1015-3

Draft Law "On the Languages ​​of Ukraine" No. 1015-3 - was the first bill registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on September 7, 2010 by deputies O. Efremov, S. Grinevetsky and P. Simonenko. The bill actually granted the Russian language the status of a second state language, although it did not fully equate it with Ukrainian. In addition, other minority languages ​​received regional status. The appearance of the document caused a resonance among the Ukrainian-speaking population of the country in the western regions of the country, as a result of which the campaign “Take care of business, not the language!” Was launched, the activists of which claimed that only 7.5% of the country's population considered the solution of the language issue a matter of primary importance. As a result, this project was withdrawn from consideration on February 1, 2011, but after that another bill of the Party of Regions appeared, approved on August 8, 2012 .

Law of Ukraine “On the Basics of State Language Policy”

The bill " On the basics of the state language policy of Ukraine ", introducing the concept of regional language into the Ukrainian legislative field, was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada and signed on August 8, 2012 by the President of the country ^[6] . Each stage of adoption was accompanied by actions of opponents and supporters of the bill ^[7] . The law declares that provided that the number of speakers of a regional language who live in the territory of the distribution of this language is 10 percent or more of the population, a number of preferences are introduced for this regional language in this territory: it is used in this territory in the work of local government bodies, bodies of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and local authorities, is applied and studied in state and municipal educational institutions, as well as It is used in other areas of public life. In addition, this law declares the free use, along with the state language, of regional languages ​​in such areas as economic and social activities of enterprises, institutions, organizations, private entrepreneurs, associations of citizens; education, science, culture, computer science, media and communications, advertising.

The specifics of the use of the Russian language and other regional languages

Not all 13 regional languages ​​of the country are absolutely equal to each other in all legal respects. So, the Russian language , as the most widespread regional language of Ukraine, is specifically stipulated in a number of provisions of this law. The words “Russian” or “Russian-speaking” are mentioned in the law 9 times, while Romanian - only once. For example, the Russian language is officially recognized as one of the three mandatory languages ​​of computer science and computer software in the state apparatus, along with Ukrainian and English. Hungarian or Romanian can be used in state software only optionally on the territory of distribution of these languages ​​as regional. In addition, the 8th provision of the 11th article, in fact, once again assigns the status of the language of interethnic communication to Russian even in those regions where it is not regional due to the relative small number of its native speakers as a native ^[8] .

After the entry into force of the law on regional languages, the ethno-linguistic map of Ukraine received legal reinforcement ^[9] , partly reminiscent of the situation that has developed in Belgium and Switzerland. Despite gaining regional status by the Russian, Romanian, Hungarian and Crimean Tatar languages ​​at the level of regions and cities of republican subordination, the Ukrainian language retains the status of the only state language in the whole territory of Ukraine. Nevertheless, about 60% of the territory of Ukraine is now occupied by regions that have received the right to use one or more regional languages.

• Languages ​​in Ukraine
• Regional language
• State and official languages ​​in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation