The EU has agreed to Ukraine violating the rights of Russian speakers, reads a pro-Kremlin propaganda article, misquoting a Ukrainian official
Propaganda: Ukraine remains Russophobic, with the EU’s blessing
NEWS: “To accede to the EU, Ukraine is supposed to stop violating the rights of Russian speakers, yet for the time being the European Union allows it, the deputy speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Olena Kondratyuk, has told the Ukrainian publication Telegraf.
Ukraine has been presented with a number of prerequisites for EU accession. Olena Kondratyuk claims the most important of these points is the issue of national minorities.
“We are at war, and we are not willing to renounce the role played by the official language. Not today, not in the future. This is why we are negotiating with European officials, where Ukraine is represented by the deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olga Stefanishyna, with a view to eliminating part of these prerequisites. And European institutions have by and large agreed”, the official further added.
The spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, has repeatedly referred to Ukraine’s policy with respect to the Russian language as a blatant discrimination that has been carrying on for many years. Right now, this phenomenon is doubled by Kyiv’s efforts to combat the Russian language and culture and everything Russian”.
NARRATIVE: The EU allows Ukraine to violate the rights of Russian speakers
Fact: Ukraine needs to streamline its legislation on the rights of national minorities if it wants to join the EU
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: The Russian government media has misrepresented the content and background of an interview given by the deputy chairman of the Supreme Rada of Ukraine, Olena Kondratyuk, to Telegraf, pointing out that the EU would allegedly consent to Kyiv’s violation of the rights of Russian speakers. According to pro-Kremlin media, the topic of national minorities in Ukraine was at the center of talks between Kyiv and Brussels, whereas Ukrainian politicians reportedly convinced European officials of the need to continue accession talks despite the repeated discrimination against the Russian-speaking community.
In fact, the interview contains no indication about the EU green-lighting the discrimination of Russian speakers in Ukraine. What is more, Olena Kondratyuk never said the Russian-speaking minority in Ukraine was at the center of negotiations with Brussels. Conversely, the deputy chairman of the Parliament spoke about the law on mass-media, the reform of the judiciary and the measures taken by Ukraine to curb the oligarchs’ influence in Ukrainian society. Among other things, the agenda for talks also included the law on national minorities, the Ukrainian official recalling that the Venice Commission has formulated a number of demands that Ukraine needs to take under advisement. Olena Kondratyuk also referred to Budapest’s demands with respect to the legislation in this field, adding that Ukrainian diplomats have requested a postponement of the assessment of this sensitive issue until after the end of hostilities in Ukraine.
In this context, the EU would never agree to any kind of discrimination based on national, racial or linguistic grounds. Distorting the background of the original piece of news, this false narrative seeks to generate anti-European attitudes among Russian-speaking communities in ex-Soviet space. In fact, according to the official accession criteria, known as the Copenhagen Criteria, countries that want to join the European Union need to ensure the stability of institutions safeguarding democracy, the rule of law and human rights and the protection of national minorities. This is an underlying principle of the EU, which cannot be omitted in the case of Ukraine or any other state for that matter. In this respect, the opinion of the Venice Commission matters to the EU when analyzing the accession bids of candidate states. Ukraine has called on the EU to postpone its assessment of accession progress reported under this specific prerequisite, in light of Russia’s military aggression. Furthermore, the article published in the Ukrainian media doesn’t focus on the Russian minority in particular, which is what pro-Kremlin propaganda suggests.
Why this not a cultural genocide
In reality, Ukraine’s efforts to limit Russia’s information and cultural influence in Ukrainian society go back to 2014. At the time, Russian politicians described this initiative as a genocide targeting Russian speakers. Kyiv introduced linguistic quotas for radio and TV stations in order to promote Ukrainian-language music and programmes, not to violate the Russian speakers. Besides, the period of transition stipulated by the Education Law, against which both the Romanian and the Hungarian national minorities have voiced criticism, has been extended at EU’s request until the fall of 2024.
Veridica has debunked a number of false narratives regarding Ukraine’s “hostile policies” with respect to Russian speakers. The Russian media wrote that Russophobic foreign nationals will be allowed to tear apart Crimea and Donbas once these territories are liberated, while Ukrainian authorities are mobilizing only Russian-speakers from Eastern Ukraine in order to exterminate them. Also, Ukraine will organize a genocide of Russian speakers, planning to kill 5,000 people every day, the Russian propaganda also claims.
