Zelenskyy Office Advisor Says Language Law Led Ukraine 'Wrong Way'

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2021) The consequences of the law on the state language of Ukraine indicate that the country has chosen "the wrong way," Oleksiy Arestovich, an external advisor to the head of the President of Ukraine's office, said on Tuesday.

"Even if there is an imperfect law, then we must comply with it as long as it exists. This is not stipulated, but as reasonable people we must look at the consequences of this law, at the premises and conclusions. And we can say that there is a lot of resentment in the premises, which does not fit the nation in the 21st century. In the conclusions there is a lot of things that led us a little the wrong way," Arestovich said to the Nash tv channel.

In May 2019, the former president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, signed the law "On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language", which mandates the use of only Ukrainian in almost all spheres of life.

Before the adoption of the law, TV channels and radio stations had a quota of 50% Ukrainian language, whereas now the quota has risen to 90%. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised to analyze the law carefully for compliance with the constitution. At the same time, he noted that the document was adopted "without a preliminary and sufficiently broad discussion with the public." The Constitutional Court of Ukraine found that the law on Ukrainian as a state language does not violate the linguistic rights of national minorities, and any encroachment on the legal status of the language threatens the country's national security.