The President of Ukraine enshrines the concept of "racism" in the law

The President signed the law on national memory and enshrined the term "racism" in law. The document regulates the policy of memory, introduces uniform rules for decolonization and grants the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory the status of a central government agency.

This was reported by Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Iryna Vereshchuk.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed the law "On the Fundamentals of the State Policy of National Memory of the Ukrainian People" (No. 13273). The document defines national memory as an element of state security and for the first time enshrines the term"racism" at the legislative level.

The official emphasized that the adoption of the law was an important step in the formation of Ukrainian identity, and also noted the personal role of Zelensky, who, according to her, did what his predecessors did not dare to do.

The Verkhovna Rada passed the bill on August 21, and on August 29, it returned to parliament with the President's signature. Among the document's innovations are the official definitions of "war for Ukraine's independence," "national memory," "historical anti-Ukrainian propaganda," and "crimes against the Ukrainian people." For the first time, the definition of the term "racism" is enshrined as a hybrid totalitarian ideology that combines Russian chauvinism, imperial practices, and elements of communism and Nazism.

The law also regulates the activities of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, which receives the status of a central executive body with guaranteed funding. It provides for the development of a State Strategy for the Preservation of National Memory and its integration into education, culture, museums, and the work of government agencies.

The key provisions include: uniform rules for naming and renaming streets and institutions with a 10-year "freeze" on names; a mechanism for implementing decolonization legislation in case of inaction by local councils; and recognition of the insignia of the UPR and the Ukrainian Main Liberation Council as state awards of Ukraine.

The document also provides for the clearing of public space from Soviet and Russian imperial symbols and bringing World War II memorial sites in line with current laws on decommunization and decolonization. The adoption of the law is called one of the key decisions in the field of humanitarian policy aimed at protecting the Ukrainian language, culture and historical heritage.

In July, activists of the organizationDecolonization.Ukraine updated their map with the names of streets that they believe need to be renamed. In Odesa region, their number decreased from 194 to 179, but the region remains in fifth place in the all-Ukrainian ranking.

Mykolaiv region also recorded a decrease - from 71 to 69 such place names. In Kherson region, the situation has not changed: there are still 63 names that, according to activists, are subject to decolonization.

Анна Бальчінос