The statement below was released by the New York-based National Office of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America on July 16.
Following the launch of an advocacy campaign in 2018, over 63 airports worldwide as well major media organizations such as the BBC, The Washington Post and The New York Times adopted the use of the Ukrainian transliteration “Kyiv” for the capital of Ukraine. In 2019, the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States announced that the United States Board on Geographic Names had also adopted the Ukrainian language-based spelling of Kyiv at the request of the Embassy, the United States Department of State, the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus and the largest representation of Ukrainians in America, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA).
Just last month, the McDonald’s Corp. announced a companywide shift in policy in Ukraine to conduct “all official documentation, advertising communication, communication on social networks, information on the website… in the state (Ukrainian) language,” adding that the Ukrainian language is also a priority in communicating with customers.
In contrast to these positive developments, Ukraine’s enemies have renewed their assault on Ukraine’s native language in the land of its birth. Rather than drawing on the wealth of Ukrainian culture and celebrating the renaissance of Ukrainian language and traditions in post-Maidan Ukraine, revanchist elements in Ukraine’s government today seek to diminish the status of Ukrainian identity. The native language of the Ukrainian nation survived centuries of repression during Soviet and Russian tsarist rule in Ukraine, when the Russian language was decreed by force into areas of state and social activity.
The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America considers the recent actions of 51 lawmakers, mainly from the pro-Russia Opposition Bloc, as well as those of Vladimir Putin’s closest personal ally in Ukraine, opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk, to be a significant breach of constitutional protections in Ukraine and a threat to Ukrainian as the sole state language in Ukraine. Along with other member organizations of the Ukrainian World Congress, the UCCA has consistently emphasized the importance of the Ukrainian language as the language that unites the Ukrainian world and fosters the upbringing of new generations of conscious Ukrainians, both in Ukraine and in the diaspora.
Following on the UCCA’s letter of welcome to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the occasion of his inauguration, in which the UCCA explicitly stated its commitment to advocate for the adoption of the Ukrainian language as the official state language of Ukraine, the UCCA’s president, Andriy Futey, has forwarded a letter to the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Dmytro Razumkov, expressing the urgent concerns of the Ukrainian American community about these developments. The UCCA resolutely condemns any attempt to weaken the position of Ukrainian as the only state language and opposes the politicization of the language issue, and requests that the chairman meet with representatives of the worldwide diaspora at the earliest opportunity to further extend our work for the well-being of our common homeland.