The Law of Ukraine On the Principles of the State Language Policy, adopted on July 3 of the same year, came into force on August 10, 2012. It is known as the “Kivalov-Kolesnichenko Law” after the names of the initiating MPs.
What was this law about?
The law was particularly publicized in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Back in June 2010, the then Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and future collaborator Volodymyr Konstantynov sent President Viktor Yanukovych a draft law On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine (regarding compliance with Article 10 of the Constitution of Ukraine), which proposed to amend 21 laws by adding Russian and other languages everywhere. It was in Crimea that pro-Russian movements actively demanded the adoption of the law and the “protection of the rights of Russian speakers.”
Even before its adoption, the law itself resonated in society and provoked criticism of the current government’s actions. Experts and public figures accused those responsible for adopting and signing the law of violating the Constitution of Ukraine and acting against national security and sovereignty. Current assessments call this law one of the stages of preparation for Russian aggression against Ukraine.
In addition to opposition from opposition forces, it was criticized in Crimea. In particular, representatives of the Crimean Tatar community reacted actively to adopting the law. The draft law was also criticized by the Congress of National Communities of Ukraine, which unites most of the country’s national communities, the Union of Gagauzes of Ukraine, and the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine. It caused a wave of protests across the country.
The previous Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Ukrainian MP Mustafa Dzhemiliev, stated that the law was unacceptable for Crimean Tatars, and the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was slow to decide on granting Russian language the status of a regional language, as the members of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea parliament were confused by the fact that the Crimean Tatar language was to appear alongside Russian.
“We believe that the Crimean Tatar language should be one of the official languages in Crimea, based on the fact that we are the Indigenous people on the peninsula. The question of whether the Crimean Tatar language will function as an official language should not be decided depending on our number,” he said.
As the Crimean Tatar leader predicted, a possible reason was that the law on language policy is aimed only at strengthening the role of the Russian language in Ukraine.
“We, without being tied to this ‘Kivalov-Kolesnichenko Law,’ will seek the functioning of the Crimean Tatar language on our land. Now the number of Crimean Tatars in Crimea is about 13% of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea population,” Dzhemiliev said in 2012.
According to him, “If the Russian language is granted a special status in the regions of Ukraine, both ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars will have no incentive to learn their native language, as they speak Russian as well as Russians.”
“Crimean Tatars see their development within the state of Ukraine, and laws aimed at splitting it are in no way in our interests. As for the mechanisms for protecting our language rights, the ones enshrined in the Constitution and existing legislation would be enough for us. Another thing is that for their full realization, the Crimean Tatars still need to be recognized as an Indigenous people on the territory of Ukraine,” he stated.
This contrasted with comments made by the authorities of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea at the time. For example, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Republic said, “Crimeans were very happy to see the adoption of the long-awaited law in the second reading by the country’s parliament.” He noted that “the adoption of the law on the principles of state language policy testifies to the democratization of the language environment in our country.”
Fortunately, this law only partially came into effect, as a little more than a year passed between the adoption of the law and the start of the Revolution of Dignity and the overthrow of the Yanukovych regime.
On February 23, 2014, at an emergency session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, most MPs voted in favor of the draft law On the Repeal of the Law of Ukraine on the Principles of State Language Policy. However, the attempt to repeal the law caused adverse reactions in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and some regions in the south and east of the country and led to unrest, including demonstrations against the new government.
Due to Russia’s use of this fact to increase tensions in the south and east of Ukraine during the invasion of Crimea, the acting President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, refused to sign the law on February 28.
Four years after the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine, in 2018, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared the “Kivalov-Kolesnichenko Law” unconstitutional and invalid.
Even before the draft law was submitted, the issue of granting special status and/or privileges to the Russian language in Crimea and eastern Ukraine was used by pro-Russian forces as a destabilizing tool to achieve their own political goals. In particular, protests in favor of “granting the Russian language the status of a regional language” gathered hundreds and thousands of people and were used as a tool of pro-Kremlin propaganda. Later, in 2014, the issue of the status of the Russian language and the alleged plans of the Ukrainian authorities to ban it was used by Russia as a tool to influence specific categories of the Ukrainian population, in particular during the occupation of Crimea.