The parliament adopted the draft law on national minorities

In the second reading, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the draft law on amendments to the Law "On National Minorities (Communities) of Ukraine".

Peopleʼs deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak writes about this.

318 deputies voted for changes to the law, three abstained. There were no votes against.

Bringing the law on national minorities into line with European legislation is one of the requirements for starting negotiations on Ukraineʼs membership in the European Union.

In the explanatory memorandum of draft law No. 9610, the goal is to improve the legislative regulation of the rights and freedoms of national minorities, as enshrined in the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950, the Framework Convention of the Council of Europe on the Protection of National Minorities of 1995, and the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages of 1992.

The draft law provides for free textbooks for schoolchildren who belong to national minorities, the possibility of using national minority languages in advertising, events, during the provision of emergency aid, criteria for developing a methodology for the use of national minority languages in settlements, etc.

• On December 13, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law "On National Minorities (Communities) of Ukraine", which is included in the so-called European integration package. The law should improve the implementation of the rights of national minorities and the principles of state policy towards them. In particular, it is about the rights to self-identification, the use of languages of national minorities, to education, to participation in political, economic, social and cultural life, etc.
• On June 23, Ukraine officially became a candidate for membership of the European Union. The European Commission has approved certain conditions that Ukraine must fulfill in order to start official accession negotiations. The candidate status gives Ukraine access to special financial funds of the European Union, at the expense of which reforms in countries are financed so that they meet the criteria necessary for full membership in the EU.