Language Policy in Ukraine: International Standards and Obligation, and Ukrainian Law and Legislation

Abstract

Language policy in Ukraine has a political and historical context of unique complexity, even when compared with other post-colonial linguistic puzzles, for example those in Ireland, Spain or Turkey. As Kulyk points out, the Soviet past is “… the only past common to all Ukrainian regions, because it was only in the 1940s that they found themselves in one polity after many centuries of divided existence.” This Report does not seek to analyse the often heated politics of post-Soviet Ukraine, which I have explored over the years in relation to a number of issues, and which are analysed in this volume. It is of course essential to consider law in its social and political context. What follows is an attempt to analyse and evaluate existing and proposed law and practice, and to make recommendations.