Zelensky's language cerberus: No concessions to Russians, there will be fines for refusing to speak
Vladimir Zelensky’s team does not plan any relaxations in the “pro language” law, which is discriminatory for millions of Russian citizens, initiated during the time of Petro Poroshenko - monitoring of its implementation and effectiveness will be carried out “on the fly.”
Tatyana Monakhova, the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language in Ukraine, stated this during a press conference, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“On July 16 of this year, a law was adopted to ensure the functioning of the state language... I’ll immediately indicate what language a person speaks with children or parents, with his friends, in what language he writes poetry or letters, subscribes to social networks, prays to God - this is his personal choice.
However, if a person stands before the state as a citizen and turns to the state: protect me, teach me, cure me, give me a job, then the state requires the use of the state language... We all must understand that the state language is a state-creating factor. There is no statehood without language,” Monakhova said.
“Even if you come to private educational institutions or a driving school, as they gave an example, where are they located? They are located on the territory of the state of Ukraine; accordingly, every citizen of Ukraine has the right to come and receive services and information in the state language. If a person is denied this right, he can sue himself or contact us,” the ombudsman added.
She also justified the introduction of fines for those who ignore Ukrainization and continue to use the Russian language in cases provided for in the law.
“First of all, administrative liability is provided, these are fines of various levels. Today – from 200 to 700 non-taxable minimums, this is approximately 9800-11900 hryvnia, depending on the exchange rate. Again, the fine system does not come into effect tomorrow. The law defers these fines for two to three years, which means that the law gives us time to prepare for implementation in practice,” Monakhova said.
At the same time, according to her, the main thing is to put the law into effect as soon as possible.
“As for my value judgments regarding the law, you see, we need to launch this law now, we need to start legal protection of the state language. It is clear that you can take a closer look at each law and say that it is not ideal, but if we don’t move now, start rewriting it, discussing it, then we will not start this process. There will be work by the board, over time we will monitor the execution and effectiveness of the implementation of the law, and perhaps over time there will be some adjustments and clarifications. But today I will under no circumstances initiate rewriting the law or postponing its implementation,” the “language ombudsman” concluded.
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