Antonovych Myroslava. The rights of national minorities in Ukraine: an introduction. Minority rights in the “New” Europe
The issue of national minorities, and the question as to how to deal with such groups, is of particular importance to Ukraine, a state within which more than 100 nationalities exist. According to a census of the population
held in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1989 (prior to independence), as well as the 37.5 million ethnic Ukrainians, the territory was then inhabited by 11.3 million ethnic Russians; half a million Jews; 400,000
individuals of Belarus extraction; 300,000 ethnic Moldovans; 200,000 each of ethnic Bulgarians and Poles; and numerous other national minorities.
The figures are representative of present day statistics. It should consequently come as little surprise that developing an appropriate state policy towards ethnic minorities has been given a high priority by the authorities, in order
to deal both with the needs and requirements of the national minority populations, and to remove the potential for intra-ethnic conflict within Ukraine.
