In Donetsk, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk proposed legitimization of local referendums, a bill that would allow Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkiv oblasts to become autonomous republics and protect the Russian language according to the Kolesnichenko-Kivalov law. Sergey Slovodchuk, a political consultant and director of the Slobodchuk and Partners: Politics PR, Elections company, said that the proposal would simply lift the 2012 law. The law was used just once in 2000 to expand authority of President Leonid Kuchma.
The expert noted that the three oblasts had not decided what referendum they would want: federalization or secession. So Yatsenyuk made a step towards them. He added that ruling elites had not made any similar steps for the southern and eastern oblasts before.
Concerning the Russian language, Slobodchuk said that preservation of the Kolesnichenko-Kivalov law was more of a political declaration than a legal act. In reality, no one has ever prohibited the Russian language in any way. Politicians have nothing to offer voters.
