Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other state officials could face fines. The reason: you spoke English, German or Russian, which is against the law on the official language. The main purpose of this is to push back the Russian language.
“Under the terms of martial law, individual state employees continue to violate official language law,” the media quoted a Facebook post as saying. Since March, several state officials have not spoken Ukrainian on duty, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a governor and a mayor. Selenskyj spoke English while visiting American actor Sean Penn and British billionaire Richard Branson. The language guards also criticized a German-language interview by a governor for the television channel “Welt” and a Russian-language interview by a mayor with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
Language law is being tightened
The basis for the criticism is a law passed in 2019 that prescribes Ukrainian in many areas of life. There are strict quotas for print media, radio and television, but also for companies. The existing law will be further tightened next Saturday. From this day on, corporate websites, for example, must have Ukrainian as their official language.
Ukrainian language commissioner Taras Kremin said violators could face fines of up to 320 euros. Zelenskyy and his associates could now be affected if reported.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
