Hungary calls on Ukraine to suspend the implementation of the law on education (in particular, its language article) until an agreement is reached with Transcarpathian Hungarians on all of the details, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on February 16.
According to a report posted on the website of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Szijjarto said that Ukraine had “launched an international campaign of lies against Hungary and Transcarpathian Hungarians.” He explained that “Transcarpathian Hungarians did not attend a meeting with the Ukrainian Government in Kyiv at which negotiations on the Ukrainian Education Act took place in accordance with the requirements of the Venice Commission.”
According to the minister, the Ukrainian government wanted to discuss with Transcarpathian Hungarians a new part of the law, based on the already adopted document. Therefore, they were not invited for a consultation on the education law, and if Transcarpathian Hungarians had attended that meeting “they would to all intents and purposes have accepted the Education Act,” which grossly contravenes international law and the rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians.
“Ukraine, which is aspiring to achieve European integration, has recently severely contravened the international laws on the protection of minorities, adherence to which is also strictly required by the European Union,” he added.
Szijjarto believes that Ukraine has in fact begun the implementation of the education law in view of the fact that they have informed Hungarian schools that “world literature must be taught in Ukrainian beginning this September.”
“Hungary calls on Ukraine to suspend the implementation of the Education Act instead of conducting an international campaign of lies until it comes to an agreement with Transcarpathian Hungarians on all of the details. Ukraine must finally begin talks with the Transcarpathian Hungarians,” he said.
As reported, the Ukrainian law on education came into force on September 28, 2017.
Among other things, the law stipulates that the state language is a language of learning at educational institutions, but one or several subjects in two or more languages, namely, the state language, English and other European Union official languages can be taught in compliance with the educational program.
People who belong to ethnic minorities are guaranteed the right for learning in the native language along with the Ukrainian language in separate groups of municipal pre-school and primary school institutions.
On September 26, Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced it would block Ukraine’s rapprochement with the European Union because of the law on education. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry sent the law to the Venice Commission for vetting.
On December 8, the Ukrainian Education and Science Ministry reported that the Venice Commission had not supported Hungary’s accusation of narrowing the rights of national minorities in the article on the language of instruction in Ukraine’s law on education.
The Education and Science Ministry declared its readiness to implement the recommendations of the commission and developed three models for the implementation of the language article in the law “On General Secondary Education.”
On February 7, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Vasyl Bodnar, following his visit to Zakarpattia region, wrote on Twitter that key issues on the settlement of the language issue had been agreed with representatives of Hungary.
On February 14, the Cabinet of Ministers approved and submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a bill that proposes to extend the transitional period of the implementation of the language article on the law on education from 2020 to 2023.
According to Hrynevych, this change must be made to implement the proposals of the Venice Commission.
