Zelenskyy signs law banning books from Russia
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed the law No 2309-IX banning the import and distribution of Russian books.
"[I] Signed the law ‘On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Concerning the Establishment of Restrictions On the Import and Distribution of Published Materials Regarding the Aggressor State, the Republic of Belarus, and the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine’. I think the law is correct", the president wrote on his Telegram.
Zelenskyy also added that the text of the law was sent to EU institutions to assess whether specific provisions of the law can affect the implementation of obligations in terms of protecting the rights of minorities, in particular linguistic ones, in the context of the recommendation of the European Commission's opinion on Ukraine's application for EU membership.
On 19 June 2022, the Verkhovna Rada supported Law No 2309-IX "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Concerning the Establishment of Restrictions On the Import and Distribution of Published Materials Regarding the Aggressor State, the Republic of Belarus, and the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine". The next day, it was handed over to the president for signing.
In July 2022, public figures began to demand that the president sign laws that will support domestic book publishers as well as free the information space from Russian influence. The initiative was supported by writers Serhii Zhadan, Tamara Horikha Zernia, actress Irma Vitovska, ex-head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory Volodymyr Viatrovych, publisher Anton Martynov and others.
On 16 May of this year, Taras Shamaida registered a petition on the president's website demanding to sign a law banning the import and distribution of published materials from Russia and Belarus. On 30 May, it received the required number of votes.
On 20 June, Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to the petition and to the flash mob on social media calling him to introduce a ban on import and distribution of books from Russia and Belarus.
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