KIEV, October 7. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is carrying out a policy of discrimination against the Russian-speaking population, failing to fulfil his campaign promise to analyze and review the current Ukrainian language law, Chairman of the Ukrainian opposition platform "For Life" Viktor Medvedchuk stated on Monday.
"The unconstitutional and blatantly discriminatory language law of Poroshenko-Parubiy is still in force, and this means that President Zelensky has not fulfilled his campaign promise," the politician said.
Medvedchuk reminded that six months ago, during his presidential campaign, Zelensky spoke out against the discrimination of the Russian language in Ukraine. After winning the election, the Ukrainian leader promised to conduct "a careful analysis of this law to make sure that it adheres to all constitutional rights and interests of every Ukrainian citizen."
"However, after assuming office, Zelensky has changed his "principal stance", refusing to review the blatantly discriminatory law, which involves forced Ukrainization of the Russian-speaking population," the politician said. By doing this, the new Ukrainian president "has betrayed the interests of millions of Ukrainians - Russian-speaking citizens and residents of the country’s southeast," Medvedchuk said, adding that Zelensky is now leading the policy of discrimination against Russian-speaking citizens.
The Ukrainian language law
The bill approved by the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (parliament) on April 25, 2019 and signed on May 15 by former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko stipulates that all citizens from now on will be obliged to use the Ukrainian language in all spheres of life. Specially appointed language inspectors will monitor compliance. They will be empowered to attend the meetings of any bodies of power, to demand documents from non-governmental organizations and political parties for examination and set fines.
The law does not cover personal communication and religious practices. Attempts to introduce multilingualism in the country are considered "actions aimed at forced change or overthrown of the constitutional order." The law introduces a concept of "public humiliation of the Ukrainian language." In early October, Ukrainian Minister of Education and Science Anna Novosad stated that since September 2020, Russian-speaking schools in Ukraine would switch to the state language.
