Today, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the new edition of the Law "On Complete General Secondary Education" in its second reading. The Law again failed to implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission, although the government promised to take them into account. At the same time, the Law reproduces the provisions on the language of studies, which earlier elicited criticism of the Council of Europe.

Now only the peoples named the indigenous ones in the draft Law, primarily the Crimean Tatars, will be able to receive full secondary education in their native language. National minorities whose languages are the official languages of the EU will be able to study in their native language from 20 to 60% of the education period.

Yet, Russian-speaking and bilingual Ukrainians will find themselves in the most difficult situation: they, along with Russians, are said to be equal to “other national minorities” and will be able to study Russian in schools only within 20% of the study time. It is precisely this discrimination that the Venice Commission drew attention to.

The expiring 2019 was a year of new hopes for all of us. Firstly, because the “party of war", which had been keeping Ukraine hostage to its voluntaristic, nationalistic policy of hostility and theft for five years, suffered a crushing defeat in the presidential and parliamentary elections. And secondly, the peace-building process finally moved forward from the dead centre. We received a real chance for peace and the return of the Donbas to Ukraine.

The Normandy Summit (between Ukraine, France, Germany and Russia) in Paris on 9 December 2019 is an important turning point. The four leaders agreed on the implementation of the Minsk Agreements and put their signatures under the Normandy Group's general communiqué, the first document of the Group for the years of the war. Thus, all the clauses of these agreements have been re-confirmed and legitimized once again. It also means that the signatories of the Paris Communiqué not only declare, but also take their personal responsibility, on behalf of their states and peoples, for the establishment of peace in Ukraine. Such a result of the Paris negotiations is an undoubted success for each participant, and for all the countries. In addition, it is a personal success of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who fulfils the will of millions of citizens of Ukraine – the will to peace.

The legalization of gambling can cause a sharp increase in gambling addiction among young people and a collapse of moral standards in society.

Draft Law No. 2285-d on state regulation of the activity in the sphere of organization and delivery of gambling (in fact, the initiative of the authorities to allow the presence of casinos and gambling halls in Ukrainian populated areas in direct access for citizens) has been submitted to the parliament. The lifting of the ban on gambling will lead to an increase in the number of crimes and higher risk for the state to lose control over the situation.

UAH three billion of budget revenues from entities involved in organization and delivery of gambling, an amount declared within the government's program, are definitely not a driver of economic growth. They are modest revenues, and they do not compensate for the threat of sliding into extreme poverty for millions of Ukrainian families who will face gambling addiction.

I am following the debates around the Normandy Four summit and what I see is a continuous stream of criticism: some say that the summit turned out to be completely void and brining no concrete results, others – about the loss of Ukraine, about the wrong behaviour of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In fact, one is probably blind if he or she does not see the concrete successes of the summit. Just six months ago, the “minimal successes” now criticized were generally unthinkable – the process of resolving the situation in the Donbass was at an impasse. Through joint efforts, the parties managed to overcome the impasse (created exactly by those who today are trying to hypocritically shout about "betrayal" and "surrender" and threaten with Maidan protests). Is this not a reason for a high assessment of the summit?

President Zelenskyy acted with dignity. Yes, he was worried. Yes, he improvised during the press conference, and not always successfully. However, he showed firmness in negotiations with more experienced partners and clearly outlined the interests and priorities of Ukraine. At the summit, he was by no means a weak negotiator. For him the summit became a kind of “baptism by fire” in international politics.

An interview with the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of Ukraine Volodymyr Borodianskyy given to the Religious Information Service of Ukraine, where he discourses upon the forcible renaming of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, shows that the current government and the so-called “servants of the people” have many of those who continue to think in the spirit of political Poroshenkovism, which is based on extreme nationalism, militarism, and attempts of the state’s gross interference with the affairs of the Church.

Borodianskyy reiterates the messages of the previous authorities that the UOC has ties with the aggressor state, and therefore should indicate a direct dependence on the Moscow Patriarchate in its name.

Some representatives of the new authorities forget that the credit of trust received by the “Servants of the People” party during the 2019 election campaigns is a consequence of citizens' reaction to the humanitarian policy pursued by the previous President. Voting for Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his party, Ukrainian people voted primarily for the restoration of civil peace, for ending the policy of dividing Ukrainians into the “right” and the “wrong” ones, and against persecution on a language or religious basis.

Dear friends!

Today's date – the 75^th anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from the German invaders – is another reason for us to bow our heads to the feat of those who saved our land at the cost of incredible efforts and their shed blood. Millions of lives were given in order to liberate Ukraine from the bearers of a man-hateful ideology that considered the Slavs, Jews and representatives of other peoples as “non-humans” to be destroyed or enslaved. 75 years ago, during the Great War, people began to value the concepts of “peace” and “human life” in a new way.

Unfortunately, today we live in a society where the spiritual heirs of Nazism once again raise their heads, and where politicians do not feel shy calling to reconsider the results of the Great Patriotic War. Just a while ago, desecration of the symbols of the Victory and the memory of Heroes was encouraged at the level of the country's top leadership, and institutions aiming to reconsider our recent past were funded at public expense. Ukrainian people have made an appraisal of these forces in the attempts of the latter to rewrite the history, and again showed their wisdom.

All resolutions about peace and high-profile political statements fade against a backdrop of the war that has been tormenting Ukraine for six years now. More than ten thousand of those who died, millions of those who suffered and became destitute, irreconcilable political confrontation and multi-billion economic losses – this is a real price Ukrainian people are paying for cowardice, hypocrisy, political faintness and cynicism of politicians. The country remains with a lacerated wound ripped up with trenches, checkpoints and the economic blockade.

I believe that in the near future the Normandy group (if its summit is not disrupted by a group of political "hawks", for which, alas, there are pre-requisites seen) should arrive at a specific document – an agreement, a plan, as you like, in which mutual guarantees for the fulfilment of earlier undertaken obligations to end hostilities, to restore the state border of Ukraine and help Ukraine to overcome the consequences of the war would be given. The main thing is that it must be a binding document.

The truth is one thing: either the war, no matter what slogans it is covered with, or the establishment of a stable peace and the path to general reconciliation. We simply ought to use our chance for peace.

On 1 October, after a lengthy debate, the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk came to an agreed position on the peacebuilding process. I understand that this compromise was far not easy. Yet, we all got a chance for effective top-level negotiations in the Normandy format, and a chance for the political reinforcement of agreements to cease the hostilities, as well as a chance for the return of the Donbas to Ukraine. We simply ought to use this chance.

There are and there will be no winners and no losers in the new peacebuilding process, because peace and peaceful development are a common value and a shared goal that will make Ukraine strong and united. A major challenging task is ahead of us, that is to lift the economic blockade, to synchronize actions, to implement mutual guarantees of security, to ensure a fair expression of will for all residents of the Donbas (let us not forget that they are the citizens of Ukraine), to restore the sovereign border and further develop the Donbas in a full-fledged manner as an integral part of our country.

The exchange of prisoners has taken place. For dozens of people, a real nightmare of prisons and camps has come to an end. Their families will keep celebrating this day for a long time as an important event in their life, as one of the most joyful days. After all, real human destinies, real people, their feelings and sufferings are behind the exchange process.

With this exchange of prisoners, a process of normalization of relations between Ukraine and Russia begins. The Orthodox Church has played an important role in these processes and in the restoration of peace. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy have taken great efforts to make today's exchange happen, and the capacity of the Church is not confined only to this.

I congratulate all those who have gained their long-awaited freedom today! This is a very important, very tangible step towards a real peace, which, I am sure, will soon come to the Ukrainian land, and relations between Ukraine and Russia will again become good neighbourly and fraternal relations, as they used to be throughout our history.

On the first working day of the Verkhovna Rada of the IX convocation, the rights of seven legitimately and duly elected MPs from the Opposition Bloc were violated. Well in advance and in line with a prescribed procedure, a group of seven MPs from the Opposition Bloc submitted their applications to the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada regarding their membership in parliamentary committees. These applications were reflected in the working materials of the preparatory group of MPs. The personal composition of the committees was preliminary approved by this group at a meeting attended by representatives of all the political parties, which was reflected in the Draft Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada submitted by the preparatory group before the first working day of the Verkhovna Rada of the new convocation. However, later the names of the Opposition Bloc MPs were excluded from the Draft Resolution put to the vote in the session room of the Parliament, without prior coordination with them. The MPs’ right to work in the Verkhovna Rada committees, which is guaranteed by the Laws of Ukraine "On the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine", "On the Status of People's Deputy of Ukraine" and "On Committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine", was grossly violated. In addition, most importantly, the constitutional right of voters to have representatives in the supreme legislative body was flagrantly breached for those voters who delegated their power to the people's deputies from the Opposition Bloc.

Dear friends!

I wholeheartedly congratulate you on the feast of the Holy Assumption of the Mother of God!

Virgin Mary was the Most Holy Temple, in which the Holy Spirit dwell. The Son of God received human nature in Her. It would seem, what is the reason to celebrate and rejoice that the Mother of God left this world? 

Yet, the fact of the matter is that She did not die as ordinary people die. Her death was not death, but a blissful assumption – the transition to eternal life. The Lord Himself came to take her soul, and the body of the Blessed Virgin Mary was ascended to heaven. On that day, we did not lose Her, but found Her at the Throne of God, the most powerful defender.

Since the first days of the Baptism of our people, the Most Holy Mother of God has been especially revered in our land. The heart of our Orthodoxy – the Holy Assumption Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra – is revered by Christians around the world as one of the abodes of the Holy Mother.

Other shrines of Ukraine – Pochayiv and Svyatogorsk Lavras, many monasteries and churches throughout Ukraine are also dedicated to the Assumption of the Mother of God. Our ancestors believed in Her intercession and protection, and always turned to Her for help in the most difficult moments of life. She never left anybody without consolation and help.

Happy Miner's Day!

Today, Ukraine celebrates a professional holiday – the Miner's Day, the day of those who represent one of the most difficult, dangerous and, at the same time, one of the most respected professions. Thanks to miners' labour, steel-making works and thermal power plants keep operating, the country's economy is getting stronger and the comfort of citizens is ensured. I want to convey my most cordial congratulations to miners of Chervonograd and Novovolynsk, Vatutino and Pavlograd, as well as the entire Donbass – a huge coal region divided today by the war and dirty political games.

Today, we also celebrate the 150^th anniversary since the founding of Donetsk city, the heart of the Ukrainian Donbass.

Dear Donetsk residents!

This is a double holiday for you, as the history of Donetsk's development is inextricably linked with coal mining. Today, we are separated by the front line, checkpoints, human tragedies, crimes of politicians, and interests of external forces. Yet, we have a lot that unites us: our common history, family ties and friendship, Orthodox values and traditions. I believe that the war will end soon, and we will take joint efforts to heal the wounds, to learn to trust and believe each other again.

Dear friends!

I congratulate you on the Independence Day of Ukraine, the birthday of Ukrainian statehood. Let our state regain its true independence, lost in recent years, and let it become reputable and influential.

In 1991, the founding fathers of the state saw Ukraine as a country where the development of all languages and cultures, equal rights of all citizens, of all faiths would be guaranteed. Unfortunately, 28 years later, attempts were made to replace their words and thoughts with hundred years old nationalist constructs. Independence has become a decoration, and the future of Ukraine is being decided without its participation by the so-called "strategic partners." However, the citizens of Ukraine understand that we have our own interests and goals: we need peace in the Donbass, peace with our neighbours, peace inside the country.

Ukraine will necessarily be united and revived with our Orthodox values, mutual respect, mutual trust and mutual help. I wish you, my dear compatriots, faith in Ukraine and its bright future, love, peace and, most importantly, wisdom.

Happy Holiday!

Two thousand years ago, Christ revealed His divine essence to humankind through the miracle of the Transfiguration. The light of Christ shone then on the Mount Tabor, and today it shines the same way as it shone then. It shines in the heart of every Christian believer.

The Transfiguration is the pathway that Christ commanded each of us to go. A human being is transformed or transfigured by the word of the Lord, from prayer to God, from inner communication with Him, from that bright grace that visits praying hearts.

The light of the Transfiguration of Christ never fades in the hearts of those who sincerely love Christ, who follow Him, who live according to His commandments. And let no darkness and enmity shadow it in our souls.

Congratulations, dear Orthodox Christians!

Peace, light and love to all of us!

Today marks five years since the day when His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine stood at the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

This event has truly historical significance for the fate of the canonical Orthodox Church and the entire Ukrainian people.

The election of the high priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church coincided with the difficult trials that befell our country. War and turmoil, attempts to draw the Church into political confrontations, gross interference of politicians in the affairs of the Church, artificial heating of the church schism and the beginning of persecution against canonical Orthodoxy ...

His Beatitude Onufry in this situation acted as a true peacemaker, not succumbing to temptations and passions and not taking the side of one or another force in a civil conflict. For five years, he has been tirelessly praying for peace and, by personal example, calls on the citizens of Ukraine to the most important thing - reconciliation and love, and the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church that he leads continues to carry out its saving peacekeeping mission in all the territories of now divided Ukraine, thereby invisibly preserving and her unity.

I want to express deep gratitude to him for everything that he does for all of us - the multimillion flock of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, each time "laying down his soul for his sheep."

Today steel-makers of Mariupol have a holiday. 86 years ago, on 12 August 1933, blast furnace No. 1 of Azovstal Iron & Steel Works gave the first cast iron to the country. This day can rightfully be considered as the birthday of Azovstal Works, one of the flagships of Ukrainian industry.

I sincerely congratulate employees of Azovstal and all Mariupol residents on this date. I wish you that the noble profession of a metallurgist always enjoys people's love and respect. May your labour find its worthy appreciation in society, so that the fruits of your labour would strengthen the economy of Ukraine and contribute to its reputation in the world. So that you and your children could confidently look into the future that you are building, in spite of any difficulties, demonstrating real responsibility for the prosperity of our country. I wish you peace, luck, good health and simple human happiness! All the best!

Happy Birthday to Azovstal, dear Mariupol residents!

29 years ago, on 16 July 1990, the Verkhovna Rada, fulfilling the will of the Ukrainian people, adopted a fateful document – the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Ukrainian SSR. It was an important step towards building of a state, which laid the foundations of the constitutional system. The young Ukrainian state committed itself to become constantly neutral, not to participate in military blocs and to observe three non-nuclear principles: not to accept, not to produce and not to acquire nuclear weapons. The Declaration of Independence Act of 24 August 1991, which, in turn, is based on the preamble of the Constitution, has become a tool for implementing the Declaration of State Sovereignty. These three most important documents consistently implement the will of the Ukrainian people about a strong, independent and neutral Ukraine. It is unacceptable to revise the basic documents and rewrite the will of the people following some immediate needs of individual politicians.

The Opposition Bloc advocates strict adherence to the principles of the rule of law and neutrality that are fundamental to the state. This is the foundation our common home – a multinational, civilized and peaceful Ukraine – stands on.

Political persecution of opponents by the authorities must become a thing of the past. Contrary to the expectations of many Ukrainian citizens, as well as political forces that opposed political repression and themselves became objects of persecution by the authorities, the chief editor of RIA Novosti Ukraine, Kyryl Vyshynskyi, has not been released.

The journalist has been held in the pre-trial detention facility for over a year as a political hostage. Since detention, his custody was repeatedly extended. The prosecutor's office delayed the provision of the case files. More than a year has passed, yet the indictment has not been read out. The process of the case consideration on its merits is artificially delayed.

On the same charges of treason, an attempt on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Alexander Yefremov has been in jail for more than three years – his case is artificially delayed in similar fashion. Today hundreds of people in Ukraine are behind the bars on political charges.