The Ukrainian government FINALLY decides that the "Moldovan" language should be replaced with Romanian
After the Ukrainian Education Ministry decided that the "Moldovan language" schools of the Odessa oblast should become "Romanian language" schools in the fall of 2023, the Ukrainian government FINALLY decided, on December 24, 2024, that the "Moldovan" language should be replaced with Romanian in the list for the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. (See the three articles below my signature.) This should have been done sooner. The failure to do this in a timely manner was one of the reasons for something that I don't like, namely the growing electoral support for the Romanian far right in 2024. Some people in Romania and Moldova were thinking that the change in the name and curriculum of the schools could be changed back from "Romanian" to "Moldovan". Moreover, by taking this step, the Ukrainian government is communicating that it is not interested in the support of the supporters of the "Moldovan language" name in Transnistria for the sake of making Transnistria a part of Ukraine. It once was. It communicates that it is not interested in acquiring Transnistria at a time when some members of the Trump team are suggesting that Transnistria should go back to Ukraine as a compensation for the Ukrainian territorial losses. Yet what was true in 1997, when the "Moldovan language" was added to the list for the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and in 1998, when the "Romanian language schools" in the Odessa region became "Moldovan language schools", is no longer true. Romania is even entering the Schengen Zone on January 1, 2025. Romania's president, Klaus Iohannis, an ethnic German, has not criticized Ukraine for still keeping "Moldovan" on the list. His successor, an ethnic Romanian, would have criticized it.
The credit for this change belongs to Romania's prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, to Maia Sandu et al in Moldova, to the Biden administration, and to some people in the Romanian-American diaspora who have pressed the Biden administration on this issue. Notwithstanding the fact that the Ukrainian authorities could do better in terms of Romanian minority rights (and should be pressed to improve them now, when they are desperate), the Romanian authorities should also focus on pressing Serbia on Romanian minority rights. Serbia should stop promoting "the Vlach language". Serbia is not enjoying the kind of sympathy that Ukraine is throughout Europe.
Something that should please many Ukrainian-speakers is that Russian is not included among the list of languages benefiting from the protection of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. This might facilitate the passing of the law.
All the best,
Ionas Aurelian Rus
Ukrainian government demands that the "Moldovan" language be replaced with Romanian
December 26, 2024
By Vlada Maria Medvedi
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The Ukrainian government approved on December 24 a draft law proposing to replace the "Moldovan" language with Romanian in the international list proposed by Ukraine in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. These are the languages protected on the territory of Ukraine, hotnews.ro reports.
The representative of the Ukrainian Government in the Verkhovna Rada, Taras Melnychuk, asked the legislative body for changes to Ukraine's proposal for the European Charter, ?which was ratified by Ukraine in 2003.
What is the Charter?
So far, Ukraine has requested the protection, according to the rules of the Charter, of the Belarusian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Greek, Hebrew, Crimean Tatar, Moldovan, German, Polish, Russian, Romanian, Slovak, and Hungarian languages.
The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is an essential document of the Council of Europe, aiming to protect the rights of national and ethnic minorities.
"The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is a unique treaty between states that have committed themselves to contributing to the creation of a future favourable to the development of languages," the? Charter notes .
"Language decline can be stopped and is reversible, as shown by examples from many countries, where the younger generation learns to use the languages traditionally used in the families and regions to which they belong. Thus, various cultures have been saved in their entirety and have reached the previous stage of development," claim the initiators of the treaty.
The Ukrainian press ?notes that in 2024, according to the statements of the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, Taras Kremin, "a slowdown in the Ukrainization process" was observed, and problems in the linguistic environment arose especially among young people, which generated concerns among experts in the field.
Vlada Maria Medvedi
The "Moldovan" language, an invention of the Soviet Union during Stalin's time, replaced by the ROMANIAN language in Ukraine
present26.12.202417:59Author: ZiarulNational
The day before Christmas, on December 24, the Kiev government approved a draft law that provides for the replacement of the name "Moldovan" with "Romanian" in the international list that Ukraine proposes within the framework of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. This refers to the languages that benefit from protection on the territory of Ukraine.
Taras Melnychuk, the representative of the Ukrainian Government in the Verkhovna Rada, called for changes to Ukraine's proposal regarding the European Charter, ratified in 2003, hotnews.ro reports .
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To date, Ukraine has requested protection, under the provisions of the Charter, of the Belarusian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Greek, Hebrew, Crimean Tatar, Moldovan, German, Polish, Russian, Romanian, Slovak and Hungarian languages.
The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is a fundamental document of the Council of Europe, intended to defend the rights of national and ethnic minorities.
"The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is a unique treaty between states that have committed themselves to contributing to creating a future favorable to the development of languages," the Charter states.
The proposed new list intends to exclude Russian and Belarusian languages from the category of protected languages on the territory of Ukraine.
The draft law, approved by the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers on December 24, stipulates that the provisions of the Charter will apply to a new selection of languages. "Thus, 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," Taras Melnychuk announced on his Telegram channel.
For this draft law to become effective, it is necessary to be reviewed and approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
On October 18, 2023, at the end of the joint meeting of the governments of Romania and Ukraine, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu declared that the Kiev authorities had decided to recognize Romanian as the official language for the Romanian minority in Ukraine.
"The official language for the Romanian minority in Ukraine is, starting today, Romanian, not Moldovan," Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said then, in Kiev.
The "Moldovan" language is an invention of the Soviet Union during the Stalin era. Moscow did not accept the unification of Bessarabia with the country in 1918 and tried to provoke social conflicts in society. The "Moldovan" language, distinct from the Romanian one, and the Moldavian ASSR, an autonomous republic of the Ukrainian SSR (now Transnistria, plus several other territories) were two of the means by which the USSR tried to provoke tensions in Romanian society between the wars.
Ukraine removes Russian and Moldovan from protected languages
Published27.12.2024 08:47·10 minutes to read
On December 24, the Ukrainian government approved a draft law removing Russian and Belarusian from the list of protected languages in Ukraine.
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The new list outlined in the law, which still requires approval by the "Verkhovna Rada" (parliament), no longer includes the "Moldovan language," which has been replaced by Romanian among the protected languages under the provisions of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, adopted by the Council of Europe, was signed by Ukraine in 2003. It calls for the protection of languages such as Belarusian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Greek, Hebrew, Tatar, Moldovan, German, Polish, Russian, Romanian, Slovak, and Hungarian.
Unlike Ukraine, which has already ratified the charter, Chi?in?u has signed it but not yet ratified it.
When it comes to minority rights, democracy does not always align with expectations. For instance, countries like Romania, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia, often considered peripheral within Europe, have systematically integrated their key minorities into government structures, easing significant tensions. Conversely, in countries like France, it would be unthinkable and legally prohibited to form a party based on ethnic lines, as seen with Romania’s Democratic Alliance of Hungarians (UDMR) or the Turkish party in Bulgaria.
North Macedonia is the only country where Romani and Aromanian (Vlach) have been recognized as official languages for use in administration and education in areas where these communities exceed 20% of the population.
In contrast, countries such as Greece, France, or Belgium do not officially recognize minorities. Belgium, Greece, and the Baltic States have not signed the charter. The charter establishes a baseline guaranteeing minorities in ratifying states the right to use their language not only in public but also in administration and education.
Surprisingly, only 20 out of the 27 European Union member states have ratified the charter. For example, in Belgium, Francophones living in Flanders lack schools in their language and are prohibited from using French in administrative interactions. Speaking French in a courtroom in Flanders is strictly prohibited, and the presence of a sworn translator is mandatory, even if all parties are fluent in French.
Similarly, Polish citizens in Lithuania cannot have their names recorded in official documents, such as passports, with Polish characters like ? or ?, as these letters do not exist in the Lithuanian alphabet.
In addition to Belgium, six other EU member states have refused to sign the charter, including Ireland, Bulgaria, the Baltic States, and Greece. Greece is a unique case, as it does not officially recognize the existence of national minorities. France has signed the charter but has not yet ratified it, mirroring the situation in Moldova.
It is worth noting that Ukraine’s approach to the Russian language parallels that of North Macedonia regarding the Albanian language. In both cases, the governments in Kyiv and Skopje have sought to legally diminish the prominence of these languages, treating their speakers as minorities similar to others. A comparable situation exists for Russian speakers in the Baltic States, all three of which have refused to sign the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
Under the new law, Ukraine now recognizes the following minority languages: Bulgarian, Gagauz, Tatar, Greek, German, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Hungarian, Czech, and Hebrew.
Noticeably absent are Russian, Belarusian, and the "Moldovan language," which has been replaced with the term "Romanian language" as per a decision adopted by the Ukrainian government in November 2023.
Author: Dan ALexe
Translation by Iurie Tataru
Former Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova to Austria
2 个月Mai e mult pan? departe, dar s? sper?m c? autorit??ile ucrainene se "dau la brazd?"!..