You're reading: New York Times: Lawmakers in Ukraine approve bill on language

The Ukrainian Parliament, acting unexpectedly, approved a bill on July 3 reaffirming Ukrainian as the country’s sole national language, but allowing local and regional governments to grant official status to Russian and other languages spoken by at least 10 percent of their residents.

The question of granting Russian official status as a second state
language had reopened an emotionally charged debate in Ukraine, a former
Soviet republic where millions of people speak Russian as their native
tongue.

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