The Council of Europe on Tuesday called on Ukraine not to apply its law on oligarchs as it currently exists and called for legislative changes regarding national minorities.
At the initiative of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian parliament adopted in September 2021 an anti-oligarch law, millionaire businessmen accused of exploiting the country’s economy and buying the media and the political class.
But the Comissão de Veneza, a consultative group of the Council of Europe that provides the States with legal advice on the projects of law or laws no longer in force, considers that the measures adopted by Kiev “raise serious concerns” face à its conformity with the Convenção Europeia dos Human rights.
“The Venice Commission concludes that the law should not be applied as it is,” the Council of Europe said in a statement quoted by AFP.
Instead of personally targeting oligarchs, the European body recommends that Ukraine strengthen legislation in areas such as competition, corruption, transparency of public markets, media concentration and money laundering.
Council of Europe jurists also welcomed the adoption of a law on national minorities in Ukraine, but issued some recommendations, including “extending the right of anyone to organize events in a minority language” or “removing the obligation to provide a Ukrainian translation at public events”. at the request of visitors.
Protecting Russian-speakers in the country was one of the official reasons given by Russia for annexing Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014 and supporting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, ahead of their February 2022 invasion of the country.
The Council of Europe, which has 46 member states, banned Russia last year after its invasion of Ukraine.
Source: TSF
