Ukraine's acting president and prime minister offered some of their strongest pledges yet on Friday to strengthen constitutional rights to use the Russian language in an effort to defuse separatist protests, Reuters reported. In a joint televised address, acting President Oleksander Turchinov and Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk called for national unity, urged people to refrain from violence and said they would support constitutional change and decentralising more power to local councils, including over their official language - a central demand of Russian-speaking protesters in the east. "The Ukrainian government is prepared to conduct comprehensive constitutional reform which will strengthen the powers of the regions," Yatseniuk said. This would include giving executive powers to locally elected officials in place of those currently appointed by central government, he said. "We will strengthen the special status of the Russian language and protect this language," the premier said. At present, millions of Ukrainians, including many who do not consider themselves ethnically Russian, speak Russian as a first language and have a right to use it for some official purposes in those regions where Russian-speakers are a majority. The constitution already contains some protections for Russian and other languages but names Ukrainian, a related Slavic tongue, as the sole language of the state. Many Russian-speakers feared the overthrow of the Kremlin-backed president in February could harm their interests, especially after Ukrainian nationalists in parliament made a attempt, ultimately in vain, to pass a bill abolishing Russian language rights. Turchinov expressed disappointment that parliament had on Friday failed to unanimously support a draft of the proposed reforms. The former ruling Party of Regions, whose power base is in the Russian-speaking east, said the proposals fell short. The party wants Russian to have equal status with Ukrainian. -- SPA 19:57 LOCAL TIME 16:57 GMT تغريد
