Every word matters

As a translation agency, we realize this better than anyone else, and recently, Ukrainian authorities have reaffirmed this fact.

Taras Kremin, the State Language Protection Commissioner, reiterated the critical consequences of imprecise translation.

 

According to Mr. Kremin, the inaccurate Ukrainian translation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages led to a misinterpretation of the original text and groundless accusations regarding Ukraine's compliance with its international obligations.

 

❕ This inconsistency occurred because the Ukrainian version of the document was based on its Russian translation, thereby misinterpreting the term “regional or minority languages”.

 

In the original, “minority” referred to fewer people speaking a particular language, not to an ethnic group. So the issue was not about the rights of a specific national minority, but about the language spoken by a particular group of people.

 

Hence, this mistranslation distorted the core idea of preserving the language of communities that require protection. Faulty perceptions caused political manipulations capable of potentially undermining the constitutional status of the Ukrainian state language.

 

This example emphasizes the crucial role of professional translation in conveying the essential content of documents and obligations imposed by them.