Russian Speakers in East Ukraine Must Get More Autonomy - European Lawmaker

Predominantly Russian-speaking eastern regions of Ukraine should be provided with a demanded degree of autonomy, a member of the European Parliament from Greece told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko – According to the latest Ukrainian Census, some 70 percent of people living in Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk consider Russian to be their native language.

"The Russian-speaking population in Eastern Ukraine must be given a satisfactory degree of autonomy," Kostas Chrysogonos said.

He added that a sustainable solution of the Ukrainian issue would lead to normalization of relations between Russia and NATO, so that both could "pay more attention to the real danger, which is Islamic fundamentalism."

Constitutional reform in Ukraine with focus on decentralizing power is part of the 13-point Minsk deal on Ukrainian reconciliation, finalized in mid-February by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

According to the Minsk deal, the reforms in the country, where authorities in Kiev launched a military campaign against the independence supporters in the country’s southeast, are to be implemented by the end of 2015.

Extreme Ukrainian nationalist groups played a major role in the 2014 unrest and the subsequent February coup in the country. In two months, Kiev launched a military offensive against eastern Ukraine's independence supporter, who rejected the newly-imposed nationalist government.