{"id":21345,"date":"2021-08-31T07:55:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T05:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludovika.hu\/?p=21345"},"modified":"2021-09-01T06:49:39","modified_gmt":"2021-09-01T04:49:39","slug":"human-rights-of-ethnic-minorities-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludovika.hu\/en\/blogs\/the-daily-european\/2021\/08\/31\/human-rights-of-ethnic-minorities-in-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Human rights of ethnic minorities in Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The \u2018Kaboul moment\u2019 is on the way?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is meeting President Biden in the White House to discuss the possible expansion of strategic cooperation between Ukraine and the United States. Ukraine has the strong support of both the US and the EU to tackle Russian influence in its eastern territories. However, this support must not be unconditional; the ongoing violations of fundamental rights of ethnic minorities in Ukraine must be addressed properly. Will President Biden stand up for human rights of ethnic minorities or will minorities in Ukraine experience an(other) American \u201cwithdrawal\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukraine has always been a multiethnic country. Since its independence, it provided the fundamental rights to ethnic minorities living within its territory, specifically the right to be educated on their mother tongue and, within reasonable limits, to use the minority languages in the public sphere. Providing these rights was the basis of the minority status quo<\/em> in Ukraine for several decades, which also guaranteed the smooth cooperation between Ukraine and its regional partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, however, was followed by the rise of Ukrainian nationalism. Accordingly, aiming to tackle Russian influence in the eastern parts of the country, Ukraine radically changed its minority policy. In 2017, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a new Law on Education<\/a> which limited the already existing rights of ethnic minorities to be educated in their native language. Two years later, a new State Language Law<\/a> was adopted proclaiming use of the Ukrainian language compulsory in all spheres of public life. As a result, historic minority languages, with a few exceptions, can only be spoken in private communication or during religious events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the real target of these legislations was clearly the Russian speaking population in Eastern Ukraine, the radical change of the minority language regime affected several other traditional ethnic groups, too\u2014like Bulgarians, Hungarians, Poles, Romanians, as well as those minorities who do not have an outside co-national state (\u201ckin-state\u201d), specifically the Crimean Tatars, the Crimean Karaites, and the Krymchaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kin-states of these respective minorities, which are also Member States of the EU, all protested the new language regime. The strongest reaction definitely came from Hungary\u2014primarily protecting<\/a> the interests of some 150,000 ethnic Hungarians in Subcarpathia\u2014deciding to block<\/a> top-level political talks between NATO and Kyiv until positive changes are made regarding minority rights. Several international organizations also raised their voices against the new legislations, including the Council of Europe<\/a>, the Venice<\/a> Commission<\/a>, the European Union<\/a> and NATO<\/a> itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 1, 2021, the Ukrainian Parliament passed<\/a> a law on the status of indigenous people. Under the new law, however, only those ethnic communities shall be recognized as \u2018indigenous\u2019 in Ukraine, among other things, who do not have a kin-state. The new legislation, therefore, admittedly addresses solely the issues of the Crimean Tatars, the Crimean Karaites, and the Krymchaks, but not the minorities that have kin-states in Europe\u2014and of course, the Russians, since the whole thing was targeted against them. These communities are autochthon in their homeland and they have every right to claim recognition as indigenous people. However, Ukraine is refusing this recognition based on a politically motivated and arbitrary definition of \u2018indigenous people\u2019 that cannot be justified under objective criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most principled solution would be restoring the earlier existing rights of all<\/em> ethnic minorities. However, due to the above mentioned reasons regarding the Russian influence in the east, this currently seems an unrealistic path. At the same time, there are several other possible solutions that would still allow Ukraine to brace themselves against Russian influence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n