© OSCE
There is a discrimination against the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine, the Izvestia newspaper cites Lamberto Zannier, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. A line denotes the languages of EU countries and states outside the region, the official said after the meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Earlier, the minister told the OSCE member Russia's priorities in this field. He stressed that the Russian-speaking minority in the Baltic republics and Ukraine has an increasingly bad position. The Russian Foreign Minister recalled the new laws that Kiev authorities planned to adopt.
Lamberto Zannier voiced the hope that Kiev would finalize the new Ukrainian law on education and it would protect the national minorities' rights. Then the document will meet the international norms of defending human rights.
In addition, the Baltic republics authorities practically do not resolve the issue of non-citizens. Zannier explained that Tallinn acts the most actively in this realm. Meanwhile, the education reform in Latvia, which eliminates education in Russian, is troublesome.
Zannier added that many problems should be solved at the technical level by constructive interaction among governments, the Council of Europe, the Venice Commission and other international partners.
Russkiy Mir
