A group of 19 central European MEPs have sent an open letter to Andriy Parubiy, the chairman of Ukraine’s parliament, expressing concern over the country’s language bill on Friday.
The letter was signed by MEPs of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz-KDNP, ethnic Hungarian MEPs in neighbouring countries, as well as two Romanian and two Bulgarian MEPs.
Ukrainian parliament approved the first draft on Oct. 4 which makes compulsory the use of Ukrainian as an official language in education and other areas.
The second round of voting is scheduled for Nov. 6.
In the letter the European lawmakers cited obligations Ukraine has undertaken in international accords on observing minority rights.
Further they propose submitting the bill to the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission for an opinion and approval before a final vote.
In the meantime, Andrea Bocskor, a Hungarian MEP from Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region, has sent a letter to inform Antonio Tajani, the president of the European Parliament, about the bill which she said violates minority rights.
She asked Brussels to monitor the legislative process and take steps to make Ukraine observe basic human rights and consult ethnic minority organisations and international institutions on new laws affecting minorities.
Source: MTI
2 comments
So, let me get this straight. Hungarian is the official language of Hungary and that’s great, but it is wrong for Ukraine to make Ukrainian the official language of Ukraine? Talk about hypocracy.
No Linda you are not getting it. No one is saying that Ukraine is not the official language of Ukraine, nor should it not be. what the issue is that in the parts of Ukraine with very high minority populations, it was legal for those people to learn in schools specifically in their native language, be they Hungarian, Moldavian etc. The Ukrainian government is now saying that those minorities can not be instructed in their native language.