On Wednesday, President Klaus Iohannis held a telephone conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyi, in which he talked about the law on minorities adopted by Kyiv, to which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania took an extremely critical position.

The head of the Romanian state “widely touched” during the discussion of this topic, which “caused concern and dissatisfaction at the level of the Romanian authorities and representatives of the Romanian community in Ukraine”, according to the press release of the Presidential Administration.

“President Klaus Iohannis asked President Zelensky to quickly find a solution to solve and eliminate these problems. In this sense, the two presidents agreed that in the near future the foreign ministers of the two countries will hold discussions on the bilateral solution of these issues,” the quoted source said.

As reported in the Presidential Administration, Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed “complete openness to finding solutions so that the Romanian community in Ukraine enjoys the same rights as the Ukrainian community in Romania.”

In turn, the President of Ukraine wrote on social networks about a telephone conversation with Klaus Iohannis, insisting on cooperation in the field of defense. The Kyiv leader included the rest of the aspects in the “issues of the bilateral agenda” section.

“Together with Klaus Iohannis, we agreed on steps for further development of Ukrainian-Romanian cooperation, primarily in the defense sphere. I thanked Romania for its solidarity and support in resisting Russian aggression. We discussed the #PeaceFormula and issues of the bilateral agenda,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.

The position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania regarding the law on minorities in Ukraine is extremely critical

On December 22, 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 “regrettable” 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 that must 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 regrets that the law was adopted in the absence of further consultations by the Venice Commission, whose opinion would certainly have helped to ensure a comprehensive and clear text in terms of European legal standards in this matter, including by verifying that as 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 representatives of the Romanian community in Ukraine, as requested by the Romanian side,” 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.