In 1996 Ukraine signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages which became valid on 1 January 2003. The main authority responsible for the issues of minorities is the State Committee on Nationalities and Religions. 

According to information provided by the government the issue of language is officially monitored in Ukraine. Ukraine submitted its first periodic report on the implementation of the Charter to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on 1 August 2007. The report’s conclusions were accepted by the Committee of Experts on 27 November 2008 and the corresponding recommendations were approved on 7 July 2010³.

Language issues are systematically studied by scientific institutions and the results of social and sociolinguistic research are published in print and electronic mass media and are widely available.

³ Application of the Charter in Ukraine. First Stage of Monitoring: A Report by the Committee of Experts about the Charter Application by Ukraine. Recommendation by Committee of Ministers of Council of Europe as to the Application of the Charter by Ukraine./ ECRML 2010 (6). – Strasbourg, 7 July, 2010.

The Ukrainian educational system comprises about 15,000 pre-primary establishments and 21,000 schools where 84.6% of children are taught in Ukrainian, 14.8% are taught in Russian, and in the areas densely inhabited by the population of the other nationalities about 6,500 children are taught in Hungarian, Moldavian, Romanian, Crimean Tatar and other languages. Pre-primary education in Belarusian, Gagauz and Greek is not provided. The authorities need to conduct more consultations with the speakers of these languages to better estimate the need for teaching children in the languages of their minorities and to ensure the training of teaching staff and provision of educational materials.

Formerly, foreign languages were taught from the fifth form but since 2002 learning has starting from the second form. Now it has been decided that from 2012 one foreign language will be obligatorily in primary school from the first form. From 1996 to 2006 the number of foreign language teachers for primary schools increased almost six fold.

In general there are 3.1 million children in secondary education. There are 16 foreign languages available for study, one or two of which are chosen for obligatory learning. More than 90% of schools make their choice in favour of English. Over the past few years the number of English teachers has grown by more than a third (2008 compared to 1996). 

The language of teaching in secondary schools is determined by the parents and in most cases they have a choice. Teaching in secondary schools using minority languages is well provided for when compared to the other levels of education. The prospects for further development create the conditions for teaching children in secondary schools using the Karaim, Krymchak and Romani languages.

Vocational training in Ukraine is provided in 919 state educational establishments using mostly Ukrainian. Thirty-nine educational facilities offer their students instruction in Russian (in 123 facilities the subjects are partially taught in Russian), and there is only one establishment where the subjects are taught in Hungarian. In universities foreign languages, as well as the languages of minorities, are mainly taught as separate subjects.

According to the public affairs service of the Ministry of Justice, in 2007 among the national publications printed, in Ukrainian only, there were 4,390 registered printed periodicals, 2,495 publications in Russian and 35 publications in English. There were 4,389 registered mixed-form publications: the majority of them are in Russian and other languages, 13 of them are in Crimean Tatar and other languages, eight of them are in Bulgarian and other languages, ten of them are in Polish and other languages, five of them are in Romanian and other languages, 324 of them are in English and other languages, 28 of them are in German and other languages, eight of them are in French and other languages, two of them are in Chinese and other languages, four of them are in Belarusian and other languages. The three cities selected for research do not show a great number of minority language publications, except for Russian, therefore the index does not fully demonstrate the picture of language diversity in Ukraine. 

The language situation in mass media is characterised by two peculiarities. The first is related to the correlation between the usage of Ukrainian and Russian where there is a considerable domination of Russian, especially with regard to the circulation of newspapers and magazines, the language of TV programmes in prime-time, and the playlist of FM radio stations. The second is an evidently poor meeting of the language needs of other minority groups of the population. Thus, television and radio broadcasting in minority languages (except for Russian) is provided only in five of the 26 oblasts of Ukraine. There still exists a widespread opinion going back to the Soviet times that groups speaking other languages have to meet their need by accessing Russian language media space.

In the field of law the state language is mainly used. Of the minority languages Russian is used, especially in Eastern Ukraine. There is little information available regarding the use of translation to other languages if a person can not speak either Ukrainian or Russian. Official documents at local government level are published in Ukrainian and Russian, with oral communication in state and public bodies in other languages being provided at the level of village councils in the areas of minority settlements. The usage of the national language by the representatives of ethnic minorities (except for Russian) in communication with the governmental authorities is fully provided for in those areas where the corresponding ethnic group represents the majority or a considerable part of the population and has representation in the government. In other cases such language requirements are rarely, if at all, met.

The preparation for Euro 2012 in Ukraine promotes the introduction of English in public spaces and services and furthers the development of agencies to render services to tourists speaking other languages.

The information about language diversity in the commercial world is the least available. In regulations of enterprises there is no provision excluding or restricting the usage of regional languages or languages of minorities, at least among the people using the same language.

The language correlation currently existing in Ukraine is, on the one hand, the continuation of the process of total Russification and, on the other hand, the reflection of the desire of the Ukrainian people for national and political self-awareness. Therefore, the usage of Ukrainian and Russian, which has become the subject of heated social and political debate remains the central issue for language development. The controversy over the need to establish Ukrainian and the preservation of the usage of Russian needs to be strategically settled and legally regulated⁴. It concerns in particular fields such as mass media, education and social life. The development of the other minority languages (except for Russian) requires both state support and an increase in conscious aspiration of the ethnic groups to preserve and develop their national language, and, thus, demand to exercise their rights to the full extent of Ukrainian laws. Currently immigrants’ languages are the least protected in Ukraine and require heightened attention on the part of the state authorities and public organisations, as well as the furthering of their recognition in society. 

Important initiatives for international relations and the cultural development of the Ukrainian minorities include the following: cultural and educational events aimed at forming tolerance, respect for culture, history, customs and traditions of the representatives of different nationalities; state financial support to newspapers published in the languages of minorities and rendering assistance to cultural centres; tourist routes to the areas densely inhabited by minority groups to broaden awareness of ethnic, cultural and language identity.

⁴ Personal and Interpersonal Backgrounds for Increasing Status Value of Communication in Ukrainian among Students (V.O. Vasiutynskyi, K.M. Kalachnikova