During a telephone conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Wednesday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis called on the Ukrainian side to review the law on national minorities adopted in December 2022 - this issue is one of the requirements for Kyiv's further movement towards the EU. This is stated in the press release of the Romanian President's office following the conversation.
"The President of Romania dwelled in detail on Ukraine's recent adoption of the law on national minorities, which caused concern and dissatisfaction on the part of the Romanian authorities and representatives of the Romanian community in Ukraine," the message reads.
It is noted that Iohannis appealed to Zelenskyi to "find a solution to solve these problems and eliminate concerns as soon as possible", and in this regard, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Romania will hold bilateral negotiations.
The office of the President of Romania claims that the Ukrainian leader "expressed openness to finding solutions so that the Romanian community in Ukraine could enjoy the same rights as the Ukrainian community in Romania."
The Romanian president also condemned Russia's attacks on civilian objects and critical infrastructure in Ukraine, which are war crimes under international humanitarian law, and stressed that "Romania will continue to act to help Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as long as it is needed."
Zelenskyi's message on Twitter states that the leaders of the two states agreed on "steps to further develop bilateral cooperation, primarily in the defense sector," and also discussed the "peace formula" and issues of the bilateral agenda.
We will remind you that on December 13, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law "On National Minorities (Communities) of Ukraine", which is included in the so-called "European integration package". At the beginning of November, the spokesman of the parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, claimed that Ukraine had received an opinion from international partners regarding the draft law on national minorities. It is currently awaiting the signature of the President of Ukraine.
However, Romania's foreign ministry said it had unsuccessfully sought consultations with the Ukrainian side about the law and expressed displeasure with a number of its provisions.
