LANGUAGE SECURITY OF UKRAINE: POLITICAL-NORMATIVE DIMENSION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29038/2524-2679-2025-03-323-338Keywords:
language security, language policy, Ukraine, national security, Russian aggression, state, public administration, political manipulationAbstract
The article examines Ukraine’s language security in the political and regula- tory context. In particular, attention is focused on the importance of the issue of Ukraine’s language security under the conditions of Ukrainian society’s resistance to Russian armed aggression. A number of regulatory and legal documents highlighting Ukraine’s language policy are reviewed.
It is stated that the recent history of Ukraine is marked by constant attempts by pro-Russian political forces to undermine the status of the Ukrainian lan- guage as the state language. These forces have even used the «European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages», which was mistranslated. The authentic name of the Charter uses the term «regional or minority languag- es», not «regional languages or minority languages».
The dominant status of language issues in Russia's war against Ukraine is highlighted. If the state does not adequately protect the language environ- ment, threats to national interests can arise within this environment. The state language, in the presence of various ethnic communities in the country, becomes a determinant for uniting them into a single nation, especially amid armed aggression.
To conceptualise the notion of «language security», a comparative analysis of the language-related provisions in four «National Security Strategies of Ukraine» (2007, 2012, 2015, 2020).
It is stated that in August 2025 important amendments were made to the Law of Ukraine «On the National Security of Ukraine», which concern the pro- tection of the state language. These amendments were introduced thanks to the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the Law of Ukraine «On the Fundamentals of the State Policy of National Memory of the Ukrainian People». Overall, the introduction of amendments to the Law of Ukraine
«On the National Security of Ukraine» regarding the protection of the state language is an important step toward forming the scientific-conceptual and methodological framework of the theory of Ukraine’s language security.
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