Yushchenko plans law on reinstating the rights of those once deported on ethnic grounds

On Thursday, President Yushchenko told journalists in Simferopol that he planned in the near future to submit such a law for urgent consideration to the Verkhovna Rada.

“I support such a law”, the President said, adding that this was an issue of relevance not only for the Crimea.

Mr Yushchenko believes that passing this law “will clarify the response to such key issues as the status of formerly deported individuals, the procedure for gaining this, as well as regulation through current legislation of such questions as land relations, social compensation, etc.

He said that a commission was presently working on implementing his instructions. The commission’s aim was to formulate an agreement version of the draft law with 7 – 8 points due to which it was vetoed in 2004.

The President said that he would pass the law as soon as it went through the entire procedure in the Verkhovna Rada.