​The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania (MFA) sent an extremely critical analysis to Kyiv after the adoption of the law on national minorities in Ukraine, considering it “sad” that the normative act was adopted without consultation with the Venice Commission and the Romanian community in Ukraine.

Minister Bohdan Aurescu handed over the position to his Ukrainian colleague Dmytro Kuleba along with a list of provisions that, according to the Romanian side, “may have a negative impact, referring to European standards.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminds that in the Conclusion formulated on June 17, 2022 regarding Ukraine’s application to join the European Union, the European Commission indicated, among the steps to be taken, the completion of the reform of the legislative framework regarding the rights of persons belonging to national minorities, in accordance with the recommendations of the Venice Commission, and immediate adoption of effective implementation mechanisms.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers it regrettable that the law was adopted in the absence of new consultations of the Venice Commission, the conclusion of which would certainly contribute to ensuring a comprehensive and clear text from the point of view of European legal standards in this matter, including by examining how its previous recommendations are reflected in the regulatory text. It is also regrettable that the law was adopted in the absence of proper consultations with the representatives of the Romanian community in Ukraine, as the Romanian side demanded,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The ministry headed by Bohdan Auresku asks the Ukrainian authorities to consult with the Venice Commission at this stage and fully implement its recommendations, given that the law provides for a six-month period for its entry into force.

“Romania fully supports the European path of Ukraine and understands the natural desire to speed up the process of rapprochement with the EU, tnsă signals that the untimely acceleration of the legislative process in this area significantly affected the process of consultations with representatives of national minorities, which should have been one of the essential ones before the adoption of the law. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes that it has repeatedly appealed to the Ukrainian side with a request to carefully consult the Romanian community in Ukraine in the process of drafting and adopting the law,” the message reads.

List of complaints sent to Auresk Kuleba

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims that the new law is an improved version of previous drafts that were analyzed at the level of the Ukrainian legislative body, but “retains provisions that may have a negative impact, with reference to European standards.”

These would be:

• while the Conclusion of the Venice Commission no. 960/2019, formulated in relation to the Law of Ukraine “On the Functioning of the State Language”, is critical from the point of view of the provisions on the use of the state language in education, the Venice Commission refers to the criticism formulated earlier in the context of the assessment of Art. 7 of the Law on Education, the article of the Law on National Minorities, devoted to education, refers to the provisions of the Law on Education, therefore, the concerns of the Romanian side in terms of the right to education are not satisfied;
• the wording regarding the monitoring duties of the central body that implements state policy in the field of national minorities, regarding the activities of associations of citizens of national minorities, remains unclear;
• there is no provision on the use of the native language in relations with the judiciary;
• uncertainty remains regarding the specific application of the provisions on the use of minority languages ​​in the administration, in areas traditionally inhabited by persons belonging to national minorities and at their request, as well as those regulating information of general interest (advertising, which, among other things, contains a public offer to conclude a contract, information plates, signs, boards, messages, inscriptions and other publicly placed textual, visual and audio information that is used or can be used to inform an unlimited number of persons about goods, works , services, separate commercial structures, officials, employees of enterprises or state bodies, local self-government bodies) are duplicated in the language of the national minority (community) by decision of the village, commune, city. councils;
• the right to practice one’s religion or belief does not, in addition, apply to a separate provisionbeing included only in the article relating to the right to freedom of expression;
• and a positive measure is the creation of an advisory body within the central body of executive power, which ensures the formation and implementation of state policy in the field of protection of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities,there remains a lack of clarity as to how to determine which organization is a minority organization when, for example, several associations are created within one national minority;
• the issue of financial support for the translation of information on artistic and cultural events, when it is necessary to provide a translation into the state language, has not been clarified;
• the issue of insufficient funding of representative associations of national minorities remains, with the possibility of only timely funding for projects and on a competitive basis within the budget allocated annually for these purposes.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims that it will continue the dialogue with the Ukrainian side, and reminds that as early as 2021, Romania’s proposal to conclude a Comprehensive Agreement on the Protection of the Rights of Persons Belonging to Romanian Communities in Ukraine and Ukrainian Communities in Romania with an Emphasis on Language Rights was agreed in principle on a bilateral level, but due to Russia’s war against Ukraine, the dialogue on this issue is significantly complicated and slowed down.

The ministry headed by Bohdan Auresku also points out that efforts to join the European Union should be based “on fundamental reforms and acceptance of all European values.”

According to the IAE, in the dialogue with the Ukrainian side, issues related to the rehabilitation and ensuring the rights of persons belonging to the Romanian community in Ukraine were constantly raised. The last time, on November 29, 2022, on the sidelines of the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest, at which Bohdan Aurescu resumed the meeting with Dmytro Kuleba, including Romania’s request for Ukraine to recognize the non-existence of the so-called “Moldovan language”, which would allow wider access of Romanians from of Ukraine to study in the Romanian language.

The IAE notes that “aspects of the analysis and previously submitted requests were sent to the Ukrainian side through a letter addressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bohdan Aureska, to his colleague Dmytro Kuleba,” and will be detailed in contacts with the Embassy of Ukraine. of Ukraine in Bucharest and the Embassy of Romania in Kyiv with the Ukrainian authorities.

What Zelensky promised in his speech in the Parliament of Romania

On April 4, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, in a speech in the parliament in Bucharest, promised to start a dialogue with Romania regarding the protection of the Romanian minority in Ukraine. He thanked the Romanians for the help they provided to the Ukrainians.

“Mutual support and respect of our peoples is the basis for greater rapprochement. When the situation allows, I want to start a dialogue with Romania to ensure full protection of the Romanian minority in Ukraine, to ensure full support. Our future is together,” Zelenskyy said.