Hungarian official discusses Ukraine education law with CoE SecGen

The Council of Europe must make a firm stand for the protection of minority language education, since Ukraine’s new education law affects not just a single community but minority education systems in general, the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee said after talks with the secretary-general of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on Wednesday. 

Speaking to MTI by phone, Zsolt Németh said he had briefed Thorbjorn Jagland on Hungary’s stance on Ukraine’s education law banning post-primary-level education in minority languages.

Hungary believes the law would be a serious step back in terms of minority rights and that it violates Ukraine’s own constitution, the Hungarian-Ukrainian basic treaty and the framework agreement on minorities, he said.

Hungary accepts that Ukraine passed measures in the interests of teaching the official language but believes that it is possible for minorities to acquire the country’s official language without being restricted in their right to be taught in the mother tongue, he said.

As we wrote on Friday, the Council of Europe (CoE) shares Hungary’s concerns related to the Ukraine education law, a letter sent by CoE Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland to Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Friday showed.

Németh said he had asked Jagland that the Council of Europe conduct a thorough analysis of the education law.

He said Jagland was committed to making sure that minority rights in Ukraine are not violated.

Source: MTI