OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Christophe Kamp visits Ukraine, reiterates support for legislative and institutional framework on national minority issues

OSCE High Commissioner Christophe Kamp visited Ukraine between 6 and 12 April, where he met with a wide range of interlocutors, including representatives of the government, local authorities, national minority communities, civil society and the international community in Kyiv and Uzhhorod.  

In Kyiv, the High Commissioner had the opportunity to exchange views with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Education Minister Oksen Lisovyi and Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communication Andrii Nadzhos.

Kamp met with Head of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) Viktor Yelensky to explore how his office can further support the DESS, especially in terms of providing minority communities with a mechanism for effective participation and to resource local initiatives. The office of the HCNM already offers capacity development to the DESS.

The High Commissioner also met with the Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Olena Kondratiuk, State Language Protection Commissioner Taras Kremin and Ukraine’s Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Valeriy Lubinets. The High Commissioner assists the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights by supporting its capacity to monitor minority rights across Ukraine.

Kamp engaged with representatives of minority communities from across Ukraine, including Crimean Tatars, ethnic Greeks, ethnic Hungarians, ethnic Slovaks, ethnic Germans, among others. In Zakarpattia, he additionally met with local authorities and visited educational institutions teaching in the Slovak and Hungarian languages.