The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) hails the adoption by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) of the European Council of its Opinion regarding the article 7 of the Education Law of Ukraine, on the use, in education, of the state language, languages of national minorities and other languages.
In a release to Agerpres, MAE reminded that Romania made a firm diplomatic effort in promoting the rights of the Romanian minority in Ukraine and that it also requested Ukraine to consult with the Venice Commission in respect to the content of the Education Law and transpose the Commission's opinion into the Ukrainian legislation. Moreover, he reminded that in the direct meetings at bilateral level with the Romanian side, the Ukrainian side committed to remedy the problems created by this law, especially through its article 7, by applying the recommendations of the Venice Commission.
"The Opinion of the Venice Commission confirms Romania's opinion with respect to the negative impact of the article 7 of the abovementioned law on the rights of persons belonging to the national minorities in Ukraine, including those belonging to the Romanian minority. The Venice Commission criticized the article 7 of the law in question and asked for its modification, while appreciating that the law was vague, it lacked legal precision and clarity and it did not guarantee the right to education in the language of minorities. The Commission requested thus the modification of the article 7, to be more clear and fair. The Commission also found that, as the Romanian side claimed, the Law triggers a diminishing of learning opportunities, in the language of minorities, which could be including a problem related to the Law's constitutionality," reads the MAE release.
Moreover, the Commission of Venice, as according to MAE, reiterated that the objective of the Ukrainian law to strengthen education in the national language shouldn't be promoted to the disadvantage of minority languages spoken on the territory of Ukraine, with the necessity to keep a balance that guarantees education in the language of minorities. Thus, the law should ensure a fair balance in promoting the state language and protecting the language rights of the minorities, which can not be diminished without justification.