Cherkasy City Council at a session on Thursday approved the text of an address to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych asking him to send the law on principles of state language policy for revision, as well as to ensure it is reviewed by experts.
“The bill is purely declarative and it cannot be realized, as a lot of money from the budget is needed for its realization. Its adoption could cause considerable social tension in society and unnecessarily increase the expenditures of the state, regional and local budgets by many times,” reads the address.
The MPs also pointed to flaws in the law. In particular, they said that the law does not ensure the financing of measures aimed at protecting and promoting regional or minority languages. It also does not take into account that the data of the Ukrainian census of 2001 on the linguistic composition of the population are outdated and irrelevant.
“Cherkasy City Council is asking you, as guarantor of the constitution, to send the law back for revision, conduct a broad public debate and public examination, involving leading experts, because it can lead to the collapse of the entire state structure and paralyze the work of local government agencies, utility services, educational and medical institutions,” reads the address.
As reported, on July 3, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the absence of Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn the law on principles of state language policy, which triggered a series of protests in Ukraine.
