Rada renews law on Donbas local self-governance

Ukraine’s parliament voted on Dec. 12 to renew for one
year the law on the special order of local self-governance in the occupied
territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (collectively known as Donbas).
The measure was supported by The People’s Servant, Opposition Platform For Life
and European Solidarity parliamentary factions. The law has been renewed every
year since 2014 in order for Ukraine to comply with international law, as well
as adhere to the Minsk Accords. Ukrainian President Zelensky said this year he
would amend the legislation, but dropped this plan ahead of the Dec. 9 Normandy
Format summit in Minsk. Instead, a new draft of the law will be approved in the
next six months, said on Dec. 11 People’s Servant Parliamentary Faction Deputy
Head Oleksandr Korniyenko. “We are not changing its wording practically. We are
changing its numbers only. This is a kind of compromise position,” he said, as
reported by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

The President’s Office published on Dec. 11 an updated
draft of the Dec. 9 Normandy Format summit communique, correcting an error in
translation by removing the words “the law on” from its Ukrainian-language
version. The original draft in English reads, “The sides express their interest
in agreeing within the Normandy Format and the Trilateral Contact Group on all
the legal aspects of [Deleted words – the law on] the Special Order of Local
Self-Government- special status – of Certain Areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk
Regions – as indicated in the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the
Minsk Agreements from 2015 – in order to ensure its functioning on a permanent
basis.”

Zenon Zawada: These are technical moments – that drew some media attention – that
ultimately don’t change the situation with the warfare in Donbas.