Yatsenyuk says regional councils to be granted right to make Russian official language

Ukraine’s parliament-appointed Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has promised to grant regional councils the right to make Russian the official language.

“When considering amendments to the Constitution I will set forward a proposal to grant regional councils the right to make Russian and other languages official while keeping Ukrainian as the only state language,” Yatsenyuk said on Thursday when addressing the Ukrainians.

“The government has also submitted a draft law on holding a national consultative referendum on May 25. We want to hear the opinion of the people about the country’s unity and state structure. Unfortunately, the parliament has not yet supported us,” he added.

Yatsenyuk said that “a broad national dialogue on Ukraine’s new constitution has been launched.”