Constitutional Court believes every Ukrainian citizen must speak Ukrainian

Knowledge of the Ukrainian language is the responsibility of every Ukrainian citizen, according to the country’s Constitutional Court ruling following the consideration of the constitutionality of the law on ensuring the use of the Ukrainian language as the state language. “To know the Ukrainian language as the language of your citizenship is the duty of […]

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Knowledge of the Ukrainian language is the responsibility of every Ukrainian citizen, according to the country’s Constitutional Court ruling following the consideration of the constitutionality of the law on ensuring the use of the Ukrainian language as the state language.

“To know the Ukrainian language as the language of your citizenship is the duty of every Ukrainian citizen. Moreover, every Ukrainian citizen is free to choose the language or languages for personal communication,” the document, which was published on the Constitutional Court website on Thursday, says.

The procedure for the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language and support for it by the state authorities should be combined with respect for the languages of ethnic minorities historically residing in Ukraine, and with ensuring the protection of the language rights of persons belonging to such minorities, it said.

“The Ukrainian language is an inseparable attribute of the Ukrainian statehood and retains its historical continuity from the ancient Kyiv era. The Ukrainian language is a conditio sine qua non of the statehood of Ukraine and its conciliarity,” the Constitutional Court said.

According to the document, the regulations of the law on ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language in no way discriminate against Russian-speaking citizens and do not limit the list of languages of indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities.

The Ukrainian Constitutional Court ruling is binding, final and not subject to appeal.

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