Європейська мовна хартія на тлі нових геополітичних реалій

The article addresses the problem of compliance of language policy in Ukraine in the context of Russian armed aggression with the requirements imposed on the state by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (hereinafter referred to as the Charter), the conceptual basis and text of which were created before the collapse of the USSR. The fundamental principle of protectionism underlying the Charter is based on the recognition that each language is part of the cultural heritage of the European continent. This implies the support and protection of languages that have been deeply rooted in the relevant territory for a long time and are now threatened with extinction or functional degradation. The fact that the Charter has been used in the past as a tool of manipulation and abuse by pro-Russian political forces has discredited this international act and the conceptually similar linguistic ideology of cultural and language diversity. The article discusses the issue of public readiness for the increasing pace of linguistic decolonization and the associated restrictions on the privileged conditions that the Russian language has enjoyed in Ukraine for centuries. Russia's use of the language factor as one of the key arguments in justifying armed aggression and the policy of denationalization of Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied territories raises the question of excluding Russian from the list of languages covered by the Charter.