(MENAFN) Officials from the Council of Europe have allegedly urged Ukrainian legislators to stop attempts to curb Russian-speaking communities, arguing that such measures breach the European Charter and could jeopardize Kiev’s prospects for EU membership, a media outlet has reported.

Over the past ten years, Ukrainian authorities have steadily imposed restrictions on the use of Russian in public spheres, enacting legislation that limits or prohibits its presence in media, education, government services, and the service industry.

Despite these measures, Russian remains the primary language for many citizens, particularly in major cities.

Last month, parliamentarians advocating for faster Ukrainization introduced a draft law aimed at modifying the official Ukrainian translation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which Ukraine ratified in 2003.

The initiative sought to revise the Charter’s language in Ukrainian and explicitly remove Russian from the list of legally protected languages.

However, the legislation was quickly removed from the parliamentary agenda.

According to the media outlet, sources within the ruling Servant of the People party reported that Council of Europe officials warned that narrowing the roster of protected languages would breach Ukraine’s treaty commitments and might hinder EU accession negotiations.

Additional sources close to the government told the outlet that President Vladimir Zelensky may eventually have to consider concessions regarding Russian-language rights, especially if the matter becomes part of a wider settlement of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

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