Acting on a joint Hungarian-Romanian initiative, the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has unanimously decided to ask the CoE advisory body Venice Commission to asses if Ukraine’s minority protection law accords with international standards, the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee said on Thursday.
Zsolt Németh told MTI that Ukraine had failed to coordinate with the Venice Commission or representatives of national minorities despite being obliged to do so, and the representatives have expressed their dissatisfaction with the new law.
Németh, a ruling Fidesz lawmaker, said that the Venice Commission was expected to handle the issue as a priority and may publish its assessment within months. It is also in Ukraine’s interest that its minority protection law should fall in line with international norms, he added.
“A basic condition of Ukraine’s European Union integration is compliance with international minority protection regulations, and the Copenhagen criteria required for accession also stipulate this,” he said.
Németh also said that the Hungarian delegation had notable successes at the CoE parliamentary assembly, citing the its legal committee’s unanimous approval of a Hungarian report on the fulfilment of Hungary-related rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. Hungary’s performance has improved outstandingly in comparison with that of other countries, he added.
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Source: MTI
