IPN interview with Serhii Pirozhkov, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Moldova, on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of Ukraine
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- To what extent does the current Constitution of Ukraine meet the aspirations of the country’s people?
- The current Constitution of Ukraine was adopted 18 years ago. It was born as a result of hot and long disputes until late at night. They thus call it the ‘constitutional night’. It was hard for the political forces to reach a compromise. However, the MPs reached this consensus. Surely not all the requirements and interests were taken into account, but, in principle, the Constitution provided for ensuring the country’s integrity and sovereignty and that Ukrainian is the official language. Also, the Constitution defined the main state bodies, including the President’s staff, Parliament and the Cabinet. It proclaimed the principle of separation of the legislative, executive and judicial powers.
As any new Constitution adopted in a young state, it surely had shortcomings that were later dealt with. The most important aspect is that the state model was changed in 2004, by amending the Constitution. From presidential republic, Ukraine switched over to parliamentary republic. As a matter of fact, as any document, the Constitution needs to be improved and the new President Piotr Poroshenko is working on this.
- What are the weak and strong points of the Ukrainian Constitution?
- I think the strong point of our state is namely the principle of separation of powers, which is stipulated in the democratic constitutions of many states, and the fact that the human rights are protected.
As regards the problematic aspects, to a certain extent the problem of the language was painful because some of the political forces demanded making Russian the second official language. But this aspect is no longer relevant. The new power and the new President said it clearly that there is only one state language. But we must also take into account the interests of other sections of the population, as for example the Russian ethnics who speak Russian. I think the new changes to the Constitution will refer to these aspects and Russian will enjoy full rights in the Ukrainian society. But the official language remains one – Ukrainian.
- Do the new conditions in Ukraine and the region in general determine other major changes in the Constitution?
- President Poroshenko already submitted to Parliament a bill to amend the Constitution. It refers mainly to the necessity of decentralizing power. The centralized power in Ukraine surely paralyzed the initiatives of the local communities in all the region and district. I think this is now the main requirement and condition for fully developing the state – taking into account the regional particularities for developing society. These aspects will represent the main elements in the adjustment of the current Constitution.
- You spoke about the human rights as about a distinctive particularity of a democratic Constitution in a democratic state. To what extent does the current Constitution guarantee the observance of human rights in Ukraine and the country’s sovereignty and independence?
- The Constitution guarantees, but there is a distance from guaranteeing to putting into practice. Regretfully, after some of the countries intervene in our internal affairs, our sovereignty is violated and our capacity to protect the human rights is wakened. The UN already prepared a report on the observance of human rights in Ukraine, which points to irregularities in this field. They violate the human rights mostly in Crimea, especially of the compact groups of the Tatars who have lived for centuries there, and of the journalists. But such violations are typical for a young state.
Alina Marin, IPN
