Hungarian govt calls on Ukraine to ‘stop curbing’ Hungarian minority rights
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The Hungarian government is calling on the parliament, government, and president of Ukraine to “stop curbing the rights of the Hungarian minority” and restore the rights ethnic Hungarians earlier enjoyed, Tamás Menczer, state secretary at the foreign ministry, told a press conference on Thursday.
Menczer also called on the European Union to put the issue on its agenda and “take meaningful steps” aimed at restoring the rights of Ukrainian Hungarians.
Concerning Ukraine’s recently changing its education, language, and minority laws, Menczer said the measures were “obviously well-designed and interconnected, fully in contravention with Ukraine’s bilateral and international agreements, and all European values”.
Menczer said the education law deprived Hungarian students of the possibility of learning in Hungarian. Under the law, ethnic Hungarian children will have to learn in Ukrainian at least 20 percent of their classes from the fifth grade on, 40 percent from the ninth grade and 60 percent from the tenth grade, he insisted, adding that the minimum ratio could be increased by each school.
He said the political aim of the law was that all students should learn to speak Ukrainian. “It will not be achieved, since a language can only be taught in language classes,” he said. He suggested that Ukraine’s goal was to suppress Hungarian education, “another step in the assimilation of Transcarpathian Hungarians”. He also insisted that contrary to earlier reports, application of the law had not been postponed by one year and it would take effect this September for the fifth and sixth grades.
Whatever country you live in you need to learn the official language of the country and students should be taught the official language. The Ukrainian law appears perfectly reasonable and allows teaching in Hungarian for more than half of a students class time. The Hungarian government would only put ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine at a disadvantage by creating a situation where students would study in Hungarian only. Menczer makes no sense whatsoever and is only seeking to wave the Hungarian flag for domestic consumption. You will find much more restrictive language laws in the province of Quebec in Canada where use of English which is banned in provincial offices except under special circumstances. Education in English in Quebec is being squeezed out.