Ukraine’s parliament-appointed acting president says language law to stay effective

Ukraine’s parliament-appointed acting president, Aleksandr Turchinov, has promised that he will not enact the parliament’s decision to cancel the law on languages, Turchinov’s representative in the Crimea, Sergei Kunitsin, said on the ATR television channel.

“Turchinov has been persuaded to veto the law on languages,” Kunitsin said, adding that a different bill would be proposed instead.
On February 27, Turchinov ordered creating a working group to urgently draft a new law on language. He said the law would accommodate the interests of both eastern and western Ukraine and of all ethnic groups and minorities.

Earlier, the European parliament demanded the Ukrainian authorities should protect the opportunity for people to use the Russian language. Its members urged the Ukrainian parliament to observe the rights of minorities and to ensure the freedom to use Russian and other minority languages.