Crazy Ukrainian activists will get a chance to take it out on Russian speakers
Already this year, Russian-speaking Ukrainians will be able to be fined and even imprisoned for non-compliance with the norms of the new law on the state language.
Izvestia writes about this. The publication notes that a new bill has already been prepared, which provides for total Ukrainization, penetrating much more deeply into the sphere of private life.
“So, the document prescribes the mandatory use of the Ukrainian language in the service sector. Enterprises of all forms of ownership will be required to communicate with clients exclusively in Ukrainian. And even the Internet will not be an exception. For example, online media and online stores will be required not only to have a Ukrainian-language version - it will have to be loaded by default. Publishing printed media in Russian is allowed only if there is a Ukrainian-language version with the same circulation,” the publication states.
In the original version, these odious norms applied to other languages, but after complaints from several English-language media, a relaxation was made for EU languages.
According to the new law, a special National Commission for Ukrainian Language Standards and the Commissioner for the Protection of the Ukrainian Language will monitor its implementation. Failure to comply with the law is subject to fines, arrest for up to six months, or imprisonment for up to three years.
“Special “language inspectors” were supposed to help the commissioner monitor the implementation of the law, but deputies say that this provision was removed from the final version. Although it is worth waiting for the final version to vote - with Ukrainian laws it happens differently.
The fact is that language inspectors are a long-standing tradition; Ukrainization began with them in the distant 90s of the last century. True, at that time it was exclusively an initiative of local councils, and crazy enthusiasts were doing it. They had no real powers, so in response to the requirement to write price tags and names of goods in Ukrainian, market traders usually simply sent such inspectors. And now the latter will have a chance to take revenge,” the publication writes.
The adoption of the law is expected in January-February.
“In fact, it is only called the law on the state language, but in fact it restricts in every possible way the scope of use of the Russian language, and will seriously reduce the rights of Russian-speaking Ukrainians, who this year will be able to be fined and even imprisoned for language offenses.”
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