“The Parties shall refrain from measures which alter the proportions of the population in areas inhabited by persons belonging to national minorities and are aimed at restricting the rights

and freedoms flowing from the principles enshrined in the present Framework Convention.”

CE resolution RecCMN (2003)5 on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by Ukraine⁵ adopted conclusions concerning the implementation of the Framework Convention by Ukraine reading, “Whereas a spirit of tolerance and inter-ethnic dialogue generally prevails in Ukraine, disputes related to language issues have caused tension. It is therefore crucial that the pending legislative and practical initiatives in this sphere are pursued in full compliance with the Framework Convention.”

Hague Recommendations Regarding the Education Rights of National Minorities (1996) (6) “States should endow regional and local authorities with appropriate competences concerning minority education thereby also facilitating the participation of minorities in the process of policy formulation at a regional and\or local level.”

(15) “Vocational training in the minority language should be made accessible in specific subjects when persons belonging to the national minority in question have expressed a desire for it, when they have demonstrated the need for it and when their numerical strength justifies it.”

5 Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 5 February 2003 at the 826th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies

(17) “Persons belonging to national minorities should have access to tertiary education in their own language when they have demonstrated the need for it and when their numerical strength justifies it.”

Explanatory Note to the Hague Recommendations

The Explanatory Note gives reference to the relevant international documents. To varying degrees, all of these instruments declare the right of minorities to maintain their collective identity by means of their mother tongue. This right is exercised, above all, through education. These same instruments, however, underline that the right to maintain the collective identity through the minority language must be balanced by the responsibility to integrate and participate in the wider national society. Such integration requires the acquisition of a sound knowledge of both that society and the State language(s). The promotion of tolerance and pluralism is also an important component of this dynamic.

Irrespective of the level of access to minority language education, which may be afforded by States, it should not be established in an arbitrary fashion. States are required to give due consideration to the needs of national minorities as these are consistently expressed and demonstrated by the communities in question.

For their part, national minorities should ensure that their demands are reasonable. They should give due consideration to such legitimate factors as their own numerical strength, their demographic density in any given region (or regions) and their capacity to contribute to the durability of these services and facilities over time.

Oslo Recommendations Regarding the Linguistic Rights of National Minorities (1998)

“In regions and localities, where persons belonging to a national minority are present in significant numbers and where the desire for it has been expressed, persons belonging to this national minority shall have: (13) the right to acquire civil documents and certificates both in the official language or languages of the State and in the language of the national minority in question from regional and/or local public institutions; 14) adequate possibilities to use their language in communications with administrative authorities especially in regions and localities where they have expressed a desire for it and where they are present in significant numbers. Similarly, administrative authorities shall, wherever possible, ensure that public services are provided also in the language of the national minority.”

15) “In regions and localities where persons belonging to a national minority are present in significant numbers, the State shall take measures to ensure that elected members of regional and local governmental bodies can use also the language of the national minority during activities relating to these bodies.”

Explanatory Note to the Oslo Recommendations

Article 11(3) of the Framework Convention states that “in areas traditionally inhabited by substantial numbers of persons belonging to a national minority, the Parties shall endeavour... to display traditional local names, street names and other topographical indications intended for the public also in the minority language when there is sufficient demand for such indications.” Refusal to recognize the validity of historic denominations of the kind described can constitute an attempt to revise history and to assimilate minorities, thus constituting a serious threat to the identity of persons belonging to minorities.

States must recognize the demographic realities of the regions under their jurisdiction. Above all, States should not seek to avoid their obligations by changing the demographic reality of a region.

Specifically, Article 16 of the Framework Convention engages States to refrain from measures, which might arbitrarily alter the proportion of the population in areas inhabited by persons belonging to national minorities with the objective of restricting the rights of these minorities. Such measures could consist of arbitrary expropriations, evictions, expulsions as well as the arbitrary redrawing of administrative borders and census manipulation.

European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

Article 7 “1. In respect of regional or minority languages, within the territories in which such languages are used and according to the situation of each language, the Parties shall base their policies, legislation and practice on the following objectives and principles:

<…>

b) the respect of the geographical area of each regional or minority language in order to ensure that existing or new administrative divisions do not constitute an obstacle to the promotion of the regional or minority language in question;

c) the need for resolute action to promote regional or minority languages in order to safeguard them;

d) the facilitation and/or encouragement of the use of regional or minority languages, in speech and writing, in public and private life;

<…>

f) the provision of appropriate forms and means for the teaching and study of regional or minority languages at all appropriate stages;

g) the provision of facilities enabling non-speakers of a regional or minority language living in the area where it is used to learn it if they so desire.”

Article 10 “2. In respect of the local and regional authorities on whose territory the number of residents who are users of regional or minority languages is such as to justify the measures specified below, the Parties undertake to allow and/or encourage: a) the use of regional or minority languages within the framework of the regional or local authority; <…> c) the publication by regional authorities of their official documents also in the relevant regional or minority languages; d) the publication by local authorities of their official documents also in the relevant regional or minority languages; e) the use by regional authorities of regional or minority languages in debates in their assemblies, without excluding, however, the use of the official language(s) of the State; f) the use by local authorities of regional or minority languages in debates in their assemblies, without excluding, however, the use of the official language(s) of the State; g) the use or adoption, if necessary in conjunction with the name in the official language(s), of traditional and correct forms of place-names in regional or minority languages. 4. With a view to putting into effect those provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 accepted by them, the Parties undertake to take one or more of the following measures: <…> c) compliance as far as possible with requests from public service employees having a knowledge of a regional or minority language to be appointed in the territory in which that language is used.”

European Charter of Local Self-Government (ECLSG)

Article 5 “Changes in local authority boundaries shall not be made without prior consultation of the