Zelenskyy signs law excluding Russian from protection under European language charter

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed Law No. 4699-IX, which removes Russian from the list of languages to which Ukraine applies the provisions of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

Source: Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) on Facebook, as reported by European Pravda

Details: On 12 June, Stefanchuk announced that Zelenskyy had signed Law No. 4699-IX.

Quote: "This is an important decision for protecting Ukraine's linguistic space and fulfilling our European obligations. Russian has been removed from the list of languages to which Ukraine applies the provisions of the Charter. This is a fair and logical decision. The language of the aggressor state cannot benefit from protection mechanisms created to support the languages of indigenous peoples and national communities."

Details: Stefanchuk stressed that Ukraine respects linguistic and cultural diversity but needed to eliminate the possibility of continued Russian imperial influence.

"This decision is about Ukraine's dignity, justice and linguistic security," the speaker added.

The law had been awaiting the president's signature for more than six months after being passed by parliament in early December 2025, following a lengthy legislative process. The legislation amends Ukraine's implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, removing Russian and the non-existent Moldovan language from the list of protected languages.

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages was created to support endangered or declining languages spoken by relatively small numbers of people.

Countries joining the Charter are responsible for determining which languages fall under its protection.

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