National Remembrance Institute on Chernihiv park renamed after Trump: "Gross violation of law"
The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance has commented on the renaming of the "Kazka" park in Chernihiv after U.S. President Donald Trump, calling it a gross violation of Ukrainian law and the state policy on national memory.
As reported by Censor.NET, citing Suspilne, this was stated by Serhii Butko, a representative of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance.
"Pursuant to Article 3, part 2 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Assigning to Legal Entities and Property Objects the Names (Pseudonyms) of Individuals, Anniversaries and Commemorative Dates, and the Names and Dates of Historical Events’, any legal entity or property object may be named after a natural person only posthumously."
According to him, it is only possible to fully assess whether a person is worthy of having a street or park named after them once their life’s path is complete.
He added that, to his knowledge, the local deputies who initiated the renaming had been informed by a legal advisor that it was prohibited by law. "But it happened anyway. In my opinion, that’s very unfortunate, because our community already has plenty of concerns. We now have many Heroes of Ukraine (posthumously), people born in independent Ukraine who gave their lives and received the nation’s highest honors, yet not a single street or park bears their names," Butko emphasized.
He also cited another violation: the failure to convene the toponymy commission and hold public consultations on the renaming of this park.
"The decision was made directly in the city council session hall. The law is explicit, and its provisions must be followed. I don’t understand why 22 city council members decided to break the law," he said.
As noted, Marina Semenenko, head of the European Solidarity faction who introduced the renaming proposal, said she is aware of the law prohibiting the use of the names of living persons and added: "That’s why we didn’t rename it after Donald Trump personally. It’s ‘Trump Park’ — just the surname. This was our faction’s initiative. The Chernihiv City Council can set whatever names it wishes in the city. This is not a matter for the Institute of National Remembrance."
Semenenko described the decision as "a purely diplomatic, political, positive step to the benefit of our city."
As reported earlier, the "Kazka" park in the Sherstianka neighborhood of Chernihiv is to be renamed after U.S. President Donald Trump.
