FOR THE RECORD: UWC writes to President Kuchma (08/22/99)

FOR THE RECORD: UWC writes to President Kuchma

Following is the full text of the Ukrainian World Congress' August 3 open letter to President Leonid Kuchma. (The text was translated by The Ukrainian Weekly.)

Right Honorable Leonid Kuchma
President of Ukraine

Esteemed President:

Ukrainian periodicals have recently carried information about your decrees and directives concerning your administration's nationalities' policy and education, which have caused considerable anxiety in the Ukrainian diaspora.

The diaspora considers itself an indivisible part of the Ukrainian people and has, since the very first day of independence, provided assistance to efforts that strengthen the Ukrainian state by various means and within the limits of its resources.

We are concerned about your directive of June 14 to the Minister of Education, V. Zaichuk, which affords prospective students of post-secondary institutions the opportunity to write entrance exams in the Russian language. We believe that your directive will provide for the reactivation of Russian-language institutions at various levels, and for the expenditure of state funds for the Russification of Ukraine in the future.

Consequently, we believe that such a directive undermines the status of the Ukrainian language as the official language of state, since it will be possible to seek the highest academic degrees available in Ukraine without the knowledge of Ukrainian.

In addition, we were disturbed by your draft decree of June 1999 concerning the cultural-educational needs of Ukrainian citizens of Russian background, which provided for the creation of a center dedicated to the study of the functioning of the Russian language in educational facilities in Ukraine, the introduction of special radio and television broadcasts for Russians, the establishment of an all-Ukrainian scientific, popular and literary journal on Russian culture, and the opening of a bookstore for Russian-language materials in Kyiv.

Most of these measures are, to our minds, entirely unnecessary. At present, the Russian language "functions" much better than the official state language. Radio and television stations in Ukraine broadcast more material in a more interesting fashion in the Russian language than in the official state language, and general interest bookstores in Kyiv carry far more Russian-language titles than Ukrainian-language titles.

It is not clear to us why non-state universities, whose independence is guaranteed in the Constitution of Ukraine, should be the subject of a state decree.

Ukrainian is enshrined as the official language in the Constitution of Ukraine. Unfortunately, since the Constitution was adopted, the government has been inactive in the area of Ukrainization. As a result, the Russification of the country has not been held in check, but has accelerated, in part due to the constant and practically undecipherable accusations levelled by state representatives of the Russian Federation about the allegedly unsatisfactory conditions faced by the Russian minority in Ukraine.

We are particularly distressed by the aggressive chauvinism of the Russian Federation's representatives, including President Boris Yeltsin, and the inexplicable meekness of their counterparts in Ukraine's government. It seems Ukraine's officials are incapable of standing their ground in the face of Russia's groundless accusations.

Ukrainian officials have shown a complete lack of confidence in defending the interests of the Ukrainian minority in Russia, where not a single Ukrainian school or church are permitted to function, despite the fact that over 10 million Ukrainians live in that country.

We believe that you, Mr. President, will give due consideration to the important matter of the Ukrainian language and culture. We agree with your declaration in Kharkiv, in which you denounced as inadmissible any forcible Ukrainization, and yet we expect that you will agree this cannot mean that the 300-year process of Russification should continue in an independent Ukraine.

Of course, the president of Ukraine should not be an enemy of the Russian language. However, the president should be, in the first instance, an active defender of the Ukrainian language and culture.

Therefore, we applaud your declaration made in Crimea, in which you underscored your conviction that Ukraine will have one, single official language - Ukrainian. Our language and culture, annihilated over the centuries and pressured by Russification, require active protection and policies that might spur their renaissance, and not merely declarations.

We call on you, Mr. President, to be the Mazepa of the 21st century. Let us build Ukraine not only in form but also in content. This entreaty comes to you from the long-suffering but invincible Ukrainian people in Ukraine and in the diaspora.

Respectfully,

For the UWC
Askold Lozynskyj, President
Viktor Pedenko, General Secretary

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