On April 2, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed Decree No. 293/2026, which concerns granting the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People the legal status of a representative body of an indigenous people.
According to the decree, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine must urgently ensure the resolution of the relevant issue.
It was noted that this will contribute to the realization of the right of the Crimean Tatar people to sustainable development and to ensuring guarantees of their ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity.
“I signed a decree that provides you with more real opportunities to protect the entire state, all of Ukraine and our Crimea, all of our people and the indigenous people, the Crimean Tatar people, our security and your security, our right to live freely on our land,” the President of Ukraine noted.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that the Mejlis has always been and is a representative body of the Crimean Tatar people, and now this is being legally and politically consolidated.
In addition, at a meeting dedicated to this issue, which took place on April 3, the President of Ukraine presented awards to representatives of the Crimean Tatars in accordance with Decree No. 293/2026.
Let us recall that the process of granting the Mejlis the legal status of a representative body of the indigenous people has been ongoing since 2023, when the relevant documents were submitted to the Government of Ukraine through the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience in accordance with current legislation.
This process was consistently handled by the Head of the Department of External Relations and Human Rights Activities of the Mejlis, Eskender Bariiev, and experts from our Association, in particular Professor Borys Babin, took an active part in the preparation and legal support of the documents.
By prescript of the Cabinet of Ministers of April 3, 2026, No. 303-r, the Mejlis was granted the legal status of a representative body of the Crimean Tatar People and relevant instructions were provided to the executive authorities.
