Rada passes divisive language bill

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada approved a controversial bill on regional languages yesterday. The law will give “regional status” to the native languages of at least 10 percent of the population in each Ukrainian region. It would not make Russian and other languages that might get regional status under the bill (Romanian, Hungarian, Crimean Tatar) official state languages, but would make them suitable for education and for communication with the state. Passage of the bill on first reading sparked protests throughout Ukraine and nearly 10,000 strong in Kyiv. The law still must be signed by President Viktor Yanukovych to come into effect. This morning Rada Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn and Vice-Speaker Mykola Tomenko both offered their resignations.

Brad Wells: Yanukovych is expected to sign the law shortly as it was an initiative of his Party of Regions. This bill, as we noted when it first came up for consideration in the Rada (see our news of June 6), sets the tone for a difficult coming parliamentary election campaign season – with the Party of Regions playing for points with its stronghold base of voters at the expense of attempting a national unity style platform.