KIEV, March 3 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s acting president Oleksandr Turchynov said Monday that he would not approve the parliament’s decision to repeal the 2012 law allowing more than one official language until there is legislation to replace it.
“Although the [2012] language law was unbalanced, I will not sign into law the parliament’s decision to repeal it until a new bill to protect all languages is passed,” he said.
Ukraine is split between the largely Ukrainian-speaking West and mostly Russian-speaking East, although many speak both or a mixture of the two known as “surzhyk.”
The parliament in Kiev voted last month to repeal the law that allowed regions to adopt more than one language for official purposes if they were spoken by at least 10 percent of the local population. For the Russian language, just under half of Ukrainian regions meet this standard.
The decision to revoke the law drew condemnation from Russia and sparked protests in several Russian-speaking Ukrainian regions.
