Subcarpathian Rus
Podkarpatska Rus

12.7.2010: Alexander Rusin.The Ukrainian government, which replaced “Orange“ regime, for the first twenty years of existence of independent Ukraine officially recognized the existence of the "Ruthenian issue".
Ruthenians surely welcome the first timid step of the political circles, aimed at resolving long overdue issue, and acknowledging the need for its solution, preferably in a civilized manner.

However, the proposal of the authorities, aimed at addressing the Ruthenian issue, with reference to the Constitution of Ukraine and its provisions for a unitary state structure, a priori rejects the very issue of granting autonomous status to the "Ruthenians to the South of the Carpathians" within the Ukrainian state.

Such an approach to address the issue is untenable, both in its form and in content, because the referendum on the conditions of our region joining Ukraine took place on December 31, 1991, and the Constitution of Ukraine itself was adopted in the summer night of 1996.

Moreover, as emphasized in the resolution of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, all decisions made at referendums, which are held according to the law, enter into legal force from the date of official publication of the results, and do not need any approval (including of the Supreme Council of Ukraine), and can be cancelled or amended only by a subsequent referendum.

Nobody has the right behind people‘s back, against their will substitute with their own decisions will of the people, expressed by them at the referendum in 1991, when 78% of voters were in favour of joining new Ukraine, but only on condition of granting Subcarpathian Ruthenia status of autonomy. No Coordination Councils, People's Councils or other organizations have the mandate of the people, or right to make decisions about their political future. In addition, ignoring the will of the people is itself a direct offence against the people, crime that has no statute of limitations.

Articulated by Vice-Chairman of the Supreme Council on Foreign Relations L. Kojar and Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration A. Herman, approaches to solving "Ruthenian issue" by issuing them the "right to self-identification", and promises to support their culture, language and national identity, while maintaining ongoing state policy of assimilation and Ukrainization, are in fact distinctive, sophisticated, humane form of genocide of the Ruthenian people. Promise not to lean activists of the Ruthenian movement against the firing wall, and possible cancellation of the criminal prosecution of the Ruthenian leader father D. Sidor, launched by the "Orange" government, the abolition of the suppression of dissent in the national consciousness (i.e., fundamental human rights) cannot solve the issue, or even be a precondition for its solution.

We, the Ruthenians, can not afford such a luxury as humility with an aggressive assimilation and Ukrainization, and led by a healthy instinct for survival of the nation, see the solution of the "Ruthenian issue" only in an impartial adherence to the results of the will of the people, expressed by them at the referendum in 1991, to the will of the people, who were granted "right to self-determination" by international community in the early twentieth century.

4.7.2010: The comment on the answer on the State Committee for Nationalities and Religions of Ukraine about the Ruthenians question.
If one evaporates all the water out of it and scrape off the foul-smelling dry residue, the essence of the response (to the extent of the State competence) is as follows:
1) The national legislation of Ukraine does not provide a procedure for recognition of nationality, or appurtenance to a national minority;
2) Ukraine does not provide the Register of nationalities and the procedure for their codification;
3) There is no official list of nationalities in Ukraine;
4) Ukraine has never denied the existence of ethnic group, self-designated as "Ruthenians" in Transcarpathia;
5) Among the anonymous "experts" in the field of history, ethnology and linguistics dominates position that autochthonous Eastern Slavic population-Ruthenians are the Ukrainian ethnic group (with reference to the Institute of political and ethno-national problems of I. Kuras, NAS of Ukraine);
6) And finally, in the area there are 40 Sunday Ruthenian schools (presumably, as a manifestation of "TLC").
As usual, the letter was written on letterhead with a seal of the State Committee, signed by the Head Y. Reshetnikov.

The Head of the State Committee clearly does not relay on logic, and demonstrates legal nihilism in all its glory. See for yourself:
The fact that the authorities of Ukraine for nearly 20 years have been demonstrating their unwillingness to establish an official list of national minorities, does not mean that national minorities in Ukraine do not exist. In the number of documents, such as the list of laws and regulations on matters of culture, language, status of refugees, victims of Nazi repressions, and others, such list is provided each time. For example, in the Law of Ukraine "On ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, adopted by the Supreme Council on the 15th of May 2003, there is a long list of "minority languages", subject to the protection of the European Charter. In the list could be found a number of exotic languages, but Ruthenian. Its native speakers in the Subcarpathian Ruthenia (Transcarpathian region of Ukraine) for almost 20 years sought from Ukraine to accept the results of the referendum of Dec. 1, 1991, where the population of Subcarpathian Ruthenia by 87% of the voters decided to become part of Ukraine with the status of an autonomous State.

According to the Article 3 of the Constitution of Ukraine, national minority is a group of Ukrainian citizens who are not Ukrainians by nationality, demonstrating a sense of their own national identity and community.

Reference of the Head of the State Committee to the National Legislation of Ukraine, which neither provides the procedure for recognition of ethnic groups, nor official list of national minorities on one hand, and shamefaced acknowledgment that "Ukraine has never denied the existence of ethnic community with the self-designation "Ruthenian" in Transcarpathia on the other hand, is in conflict not only with the Constitution of Ukraine, but also with international obligation taken by Ukraine, since Ukraine has signed and ratified a number of documents of an international character, in particular the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights ..."( ratified in July 17, 1997).

In the framework of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, were developed characteristics of national minorities that fall under international protection. These are national groups that do not occupy a "dominant" position in the country, whose members are citizens of the country, but have national, ethnic, linguistic and other differences from the characteristics of the main part of the population and demonstrate a sense of solidarity in order to preserve these differences.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination in paragraph 20 of its report on Ukraine from August 17, 2007, stated: "The Committee is concerned about the lack of official recognition of the Ruthenian minority despite its distinct particular qualities. The Committee recommends that the country - Member State (Ukraine - [aut.]) considers the recognition of the Ruthenians as a national minority."

Generally speaking, for us, Ruthenians, Ukrainian recognition of our status as a national minority is like a comb for a bald. What is not clear is the position of the "White-blue" government, which replaced the "Orange" one. "Right wingers", who won the elections in neighbouring Hungary, already at the first meeting of parliament discussed the draft law on dual citizenship for ethnic Hungarians living outside Hungary (with all the consequences of this unfortunate for Ukraine fact).

Romanians are already issuing passports to Ukrainian citizens of Romanian descent, and Slovaks, who introduced the status of "foreign Slovak", in turn are seriously considering the issuance of passports to Slovaks of the Subcarpathian Ruthenia.
Whose support is hoping to obtain the state power in our region? Is it the Ruthenians, prosecuted for defending their national rights (the only Slavic ethnic group in the multi-ethnic region), or aliens from the other side of the mountain pass, who do not have any credibility and not respected by the local population?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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