There is no Russian minority in Ukraine, so its "rights" don’t come up in EU negotiations – senior Ukrainian official

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, insists that protecting the Russian minority is not an issue that is raised in negotiations with the EU on minority rights.

Source: Stefanishyna at a joint press conference with Katarína Mathernová, EU Ambassador to Ukraine, reported by European Pravda

Details: Stefanishyna acknowledged that the issue of guaranteeing minority rights will be of huge importance as Ukraine progresses towards EU membership, and this is not unique to Ukraine. A number of other candidates have also faced demands in this area during their accession negotiations.

However, despite the fact that the Venice Commission refers to the "Russian minority" in its decisions and recommendations to Kyiv, it has not been mentioned in the dialogue with the EU.

"There is no Russian minority in Ukraine. It does not exist! There is not a single legally registered community that identifies itself as a Russian minority. There are Ukrainians, some of whom speak Russian. I’m from Odesa, I speak Ukrainian when I want to, and I speak Russian when I want to. And I don’t need Muscovites or a decision by the Venice Commission to do so [choose a language – ed.]," Stefanishyna explained.

She stressed that Brussels shares this view.

"I am glad that the European Commission understands this," she said.

Background: The European Commission is said to have stated at a closed briefing in Brussels the previous day that it would not take the "rights of Russian speakers" into consideration on Ukraine's path to EU membership.

Support UP or become our patron!