European domain is reaching the next milestone of its development with the launch of the Cyrillic version of .eu domain extension, one of the most popular domains worldwide. The European Registry of Internet Domain Names (EURid) just recently announced this update on their website. Starting from June 1, 2016 .eu will officially be available in Cyrillic (.ею).
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The idea for Cyrillic domain was adopted in 2006, when the first activities towards supporting multilingualism online started taking place. The next step followed in 2009 and it was taken by the European Commission. According to Balkan Insight, “The European Commission paved the way for the internet domain in 2009, when it adopted new rules to make it possible for internet users and businesses to register domain names under .eu, using the characters of all the official languages and scripts of the EU, including Cyrillic and Greek.”
June 1st will mark the enforcement of the EURid rule that second-level script must match the top-level script, meaning the domain names that are currently registered in Cyrilic script under the .eu extension in Latin, will undergo script adjustment. EURid claims that “All policies, procedures and features currently available for .eu (Latin string) such as transfers, bulk transfers, multiyear, DNSSEC, registry lock, etc., will also apply to .ею (Cyrillic string)”
The general manager of EURid, Marc Van Wesemael, has stated “We’re thrilled to be adding .eu in Cyrillic to the continuously growing list of services that .eu holders receive. This is a big moment for .eu.” Currently, among all EU countries only Bulgaria and parts of Croatia use the Cyrillic script. However, according to EURid external relations manager, Giovanni Seppia, “The implementation of .eu in Cyrillic is a huge step for .eu, specifically with regards to our vision to supply users, living or working within the EU and/or EEA, with a platform on which they can establish their unique online identity.”
EURid has prepared a complete list of important administrative, legal, and technical guidelines explaining the implementation of .eu in Cyrillic.