Doc. 10608

21 June 2005

Violation of the right of national minorities to use their native tongue in the Crimea

Motion for a recommendation

presented by Mr Slutsky and others

1.        Owing to its unique location and natural and climatic conditions, the Crimean Peninsula, which is situated in the Southern part of Ukraine, has long been a meeting place of peoples. The Crimean land has seen Greek and Roman settlers, the Goths – the conquerors who came from the Baltic Sea coasts, and the Mongols – the conquerors who came from the steppes of Central Asia. Over history, the Crimea has been a province of the Roman Empire, Byzantium and Russia; part of the Crimea used to be within the Ottoman Empire. The Peninsula is the repository of treasures of many nations of the world, including Orthodox Christian relics. In many respects the history of the Crimea is the history of the world.

2.        The population of the Crimea is ethnically extremely diverse and counts representatives of more than 20 nationalities. In 1954 the Crimean Region was transferred from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR – both being at the time Republics of the USSR. The population whose native tongue is Russian still makes up the majority of the population of the Peninsula. Notably, it includes not only Russians, but also the Crimean Tatars, Jews, Greeks, Armenians Poles, Bulgarians, Moldovans, Gypsies, etc. In other words, the Crimea is a territory of compact residence of the Russian-speaking population.

3.        In spite of the election promises, the new Ukrainian leadership has not yet granted the status of an official language to Russian and other minority languages in the Crimea. Moreover, the new Prime-Minister of the Crimean Autonomy Mr. Anatoly Matvienko has given instructions that all official documentation and record management should be switched to the state language (Ukrainian). Such a decision runs counter to the provisions of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, under which minority languages can be used along with the state language in the places of compact residence of minorities. Thus, one of the fundamental minorities’ rights – the right to use the native language in business and official communication – is jeopardized in the Crimea.

4.        The Parliamentary Assembly, as the Organisation one of the priorities of which is to ensure respect for minorities’ rights, cannot disregard such cases and should examine the situation with a view to submitting an impartial report on the situation of minorities in the Crimea and, if necessary, prepare relevant recommendations.

Signed (see overleaf)

Signed ¹:

SLUTSKY, Leonid, Russia, SOC

ÇAVUŞOĞLU, Mevlüt, Turkey, EDG

CEBECİ, Erol Aslan, Turkey, EPP/CD

HANCOCK, Michael, United Kingdom, LDR

ILICALI, Mustafa, Turkey, EPP/CD

IWIŃSKI, Tadeusz, Poland, SOC

KOSACHEV, Konstantin, Russia, EDG

MELNIKOV, Ivan, Russia, UEL

RAKHANSKY, Anatoliy, Ukraine, UEL

REIMANN, Maximilian, Suisse, LDR

¹        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group