Transcarpathia has the right to self-determination, - ex-mayor of Uzhgorod
Uzhgorod - Mukachevo, March 14 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Ryabov) - The demand for autonomous status for Transcarpathia, voiced on Saturday at the congress of Rusyn organizations in Mukachevo, is absolutely legal.
Former mayor of Uzhgorod Sergei Ratushnyak, ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, told PolitNavigator about this.
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“This is the opinion of 78% of the population; according to all international laws, the central Kiev government is obliged to ratify this. By the way, this desire in Transcarpathia was voiced even before the autonomy of Crimea. The rights of the Rusyns, the indigenous population (my mother is Ruthenian) are infringed - we are not recognized as a nation. And we are recognized as a nation throughout the rest of the world,” said the politician.
“The demand for autonomy is fair. I have been demanding this for 20 years. I believe this is our legal right. The center is obliged to ratify the results of the referendum. This is our right to self-determination,” Ratushnyak continued.
According to him, “Transcarpathia is a special multinational region that lived outside Russia and Ukraine for 1000 years.”
When asked by a journalist whether the ex-mayor of Uzhgorod fears that the new government of Ukraine may begin to persecute him for speaking in favor of autonomy for Transcarpathia, Ratushnyak replied: “Self-determination, self-government was the point of the referendum, I call for ratification, as required by international law. A resolution of the Verkhovna Rada is enough for this,” the politician emphasized.
Ratushnyak said that in the future it is necessary to hold an all-Ukrainian referendum to determine the status of other areas.
“We need to hold an all-Ukrainian referendum and ask every citizen about the device. This issue cannot be decided by Poroshenko or Ratushnyak, but must be decided by the entire people. Otherwise, “the godfather said - everyone else is in the spotlight.” Is this democracy? – summed up the ex-mayor of Uzhgorod.
As PolitNavigator reported, in Transcarpathia congress of leading Rusyn organizations on Saturday declared the goal of getting Kiev to recognize the results of the 1991 referendum, in which 80% of the region's residents supported the autonomous status of the region.
The Rusyns also intend to seek recognition from Kyiv as a national minority - the Ukrainian authorities, as is known, still do not recognize the Rusyn nationality, unlike European countries. Back in 2006, the UN Committee against Racial Discrimination recommended that Ukraine recognize the Rusyns.
Under an appeal to the President of Ukraine and deputies of the Verkhovna Rada More than 10 thousand signatures have already been collected with the relevant requirements.
The document also talks about the need to recognize the Rusyn language, study it in schools, open a department of the Rusyn language at the Uzhgorod National University, and open national Rusyn programs on local TV and radio.
The next meeting of the Coordination Council of Rusyn Organizations is scheduled for April 8-10. The organizers of the congress called on representatives of other national minorities to join their struggle.
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