Formation and peculiarities of definition of the concept of “national minority” in the Ukrainian discourse and the impact of western political, legislative and research results

The history and features of the formation and development of the definition of the concept of “national minority” in the Ukrainian discourse and the influence of western political, legislative and research results have been analyzed in the article. The researcher has outlined the issues raised on the basis that Ukraine in 1991 ceased to be an integral part of the USSR and instead entered a new political, academic and legal reality. Accordingly, in this new state, the problem of determining the concept of “national minority” was actualized both as an actual situation and by attempts to change the design of the perception of ethno political reality, which was developed and implemented for decades within the framework of the Soviet Union. This was supplemented by the fact that in the Ukrainian scientific and political (and therefore legislative) environment − that at the time of the declaration of independence, and later − the issue of understanding and defining the category of “national minority” remained relevant, and it was significantly influenced primarily by Western or international legislation and research achievements. It has been stated that the definition of a “national minority” in the scientific environment is more developed in the Ukrainian case, which largely coincides with the inter- national understanding of the studied category, although with the Ukrainian local specifics. Instead, the legislative regulation of the concept of “national minority” in Ukraine was and still is insufficient, even despite the implementation of international law in this country. Therefore, in the Ukrainian case in this direction there is still a fairly wide range of opportunities for development and improvement of the situation.