The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha announced the state's intention to actively introduce Ukrainian names of foreign toponyms into official use.
Sybiha reported this on Facebook.
Sybiha said that a note from a foreign state was recently brought to his desk, in which it addressed Ukraine on some issue.
"I started reading the text until I reached the word "Kiev". I didn't read any further. I ordered: "Return without consideration and do not accept it again". First, thay need to study the spelling of the names of Ukrainian cities, and then "renew our assurances of deep respect," he said.
The Foreign Minister emphasized that the use of the names of Ukrainian cities must correspond to the Ukrainian transliteration: Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Chornobyl.
According to the Minister, Ukraine has already achieved significant progress in the struggle for the correct spelling of its toponyms in the world. Leading international media, governments and organizations have joined this process.
At the same time, according to Sybiha, it is time to take the "next big step" - to restore the traditional Ukrainian names of foreign cities in Ukraine: Berestia instead of Brest, Bilhorod instead of Belgorod, Dobrochyn instead of Debrecen, etc.
He reminded that such a right is provided for by the law on the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language.
Therefore, he added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine plans to initiate a professional discussion, public discussion and interagency work to systematize the use of Ukrainian names of foreign toponyms.
"Both in the case of correcting the incorrect use of the names of our cities by foreigners and in the case of switching to Ukrainian names of foreign toponyms, it is primarily about respect. More precisely, our self-respect as a state. Others will respect us only if we respect ourselves," Sybiha concluded.
The spelling Kiew comes from the russian name and has become generally accepted in the German language. However, in 2019, the most authoritative German spelling guide Duden switched from the russian transcription of the name of the Ukrainian capital to Ukrainian.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in 2018, Ukraine launched the #KyivNotKiev campaign in the English-speaking world - since then, almost all leading English-speaking media outlets have changed the spelling of the Ukrainian capital.
And in February 2024, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany announced the transition to the Ukrainian transcription of the spelling of Kyiv - Kyjiw instead of Kiew, as it was before.
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