“In view of the fact that Ukraine is contravening its association agreement with the European Union, the EU-Ukraine Association Council must put this fact on the agenda of its upcoming meeting in December, in view of the fact that Ukraine’s Education Act is not reinforcing, but violating the community rights of minorities”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared on Monday in Luxembourg in the recess of the meeting of EU foreign ministers.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade underlined the fact that minority rights are an important element of human rights.

He declared that Hungary expects the European Union to declare at the council meeting that based on the association agreement between the EU and Ukraine, Kiev must continuously reinforce minority rights.

“Ukraine’s new Education Act is placing Hungarian children in an unacceptable and difficult situation, and into an extreme competitive disadvantage compared to their Ukrainian peers, because while citing the importance of the Ukrainian language it is stripping the country’s minorities of the right and opportunity to study in their own native language” Mr Szijjártó said.

“In Hungary’s view, the fact that they are being stripped of their right to study in their native language is a violation of the rights of Hungarian children living in Ukraine, and is a violation of both minority rights and human rights n the part of Kiev”, he explained.

“Nobody in Ukraine will gain a better command of Ukrainian by being stripped of their right to study in their native language”, he underlined. “Restricting minority languages is not an acceptable tool for expanding the knowledge of the Ukrainian language”, he added.

“If the Ukrainian Education Act remains in force, the operations of 71 Hungarian schools will become impossible in view for the fact that all students over the age of 10 will have to be taught in Ukrainian, which cold lead to school closures and teachers losing their jobs”, Mr. Szijjártó explained.

“The Hungarian Government is open to discussion, but a solution cannot be based on dictates and on dialogue initiated after the Act has been adopted”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister declared, adding that “The success of possible negotiations is fundamentally dependent on the sections of the Education Act that grossly violate the rights of minorities first being rescinded, or at least their scope of effect being suspended”, he added.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)