Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna says the authorities have finalized the bill on the rights of national minorities, taking into account the recommendations of the Venice Commission.

"Together with parliamentarians, we finalized the bill submitted by the government to the Verkhovna Rada on amendments to some laws regarding the rights of national minorities (communities). Proper implementation of framework legislation is impossible without amending special legislation. That is why, taking into account international practices, recommendations of the Venice Commission and in consultation with the national communities have prepared a package of changes to a number of laws," the press service of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration said.

According to her, the bill in no way provided for a revision of existing norms regarding the language of the aggressor state.

"This has always been a principled position for us. However, to remove any fears and reservations, working together with parliamentarians and representatives of the public, we have further strengthened the safeguards," she said.

Stefanishyna said the provisions relating to the rights of national communities were retained.

"Today we have a good draft law agreed upon between the factions, which leaves no room for ambiguity. I believe that the break with the Russian-Soviet legacy is final and irrevocable. And the best guarantee of this is our integration into the EU. I am sure there can be no disagreements here," the Deputy Prime Ministersaid.

As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers proposes to the Verkhovna Rada to amend laws regarding the rights of national minorities, taking into account the recommendations of the Venice Commission. The bill proposes to consolidate the right of private higher education institutions to choose the language of instruction, which is the official language of the European Union, while ensuring the study of the state language as a separate academic discipline.

Amendments to the Law On media propose to stipulate the specifics of the use of languages of national minorities (communities) in the field of audiovisual media, in particular, "the state (official) language of the state recognized by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as an aggressor state or an occupier state." The bill also provides for changes to the law On publishing, which establish the conditions for the operation of specialized bookstores created to implement the rights of national minorities (communities). The document also proposes to grant the right to distribute election campaign materials in the languages of the relevant indigenous peoples and national minorities.

At the same time, Ukrainian public organizations call on the authorities not to weaken the mechanisms for protecting the state language under the pretext of European integration, as stated in a joint statement dated November 20.

On November 28, Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Taras Kremen said that certain provisions of the government bill on the rights of national minorities significantly worsen the functioning of the Ukrainian language in some areas of public life.