Fate of Hungarian minorities ‘not up for bargain’, says Hungarian FM
The fate of Hungarian minorities is not up for bargain, Hungary’s foreign minister said on Tuesday, calling on Ukraine to withdraw the provisions of its education law that violate the rights of minorities.
Péter Szijjártó told a news conference that the new Ukrainian law, which restricts teaching in the mother tongue for minorities, violated the association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union. Hungary, he said, will call for a revision of the agreement at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. The Association Council will have to be convened and Hungary will initiate putting termination of the association agreement on the agenda, the minister added.
A qualified majority will be needed for the measure to pass, Szijjártó noted.
If Ukraine fails to take the necessary measures, trade-related penalties may take effect, he said. Ukraine, he noted, plans to take steps towards further EU integration, but Hungary will block them as long as the law remains in its current form.
Szijjártó said
the new law detrimentally affects 71 educational institutions in western Ukraine, where the majority of ethnic Hungarians live.
He said the argument that the law was needed to improve the Ukrainian language skills of minorities was a “cynical lie”, and Hungary would rebut this in all international forums. Education in the mother tongue and knowledge of Ukrainian can develop in parallel, he said.
As we wrote today, Ukraine’s education law violates the association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said today and added that he would initiate the review of the agreement at next Monday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Last week, 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 last Friday showed.
The minister said he would bring up the issue with his Ukrainian counterpart at a meeting in Budapest on Thursday.
Photo: MTI
Hungary to initiate review of EU-Ukraine association agreement
Ukraine’s education law violates the association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday and added that he would initiate the review of the agreement at next Monday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Szijjártó held talks in Uzhhorod/Ungvár with leaders of ethnic Hungarian organisations and churches about the situation that has developed in connection with the new education law.
The new law has created a worse situation for ethnic Hungarians and other minorities than what they experienced in the Soviet Union in terms of education,
Szijjártó said after the talks.
It can be clearly stated on the basis of the meeting with ethnic Hungarians leaders in Transcarpathia (Kárpátalja) that the recently introduced law practically makes the operation of Hungarians schools in Ukraine impossible, taking away ethnic Hungarians’ right to study in their mother tongue above the age of 10. As a result,
Ukraine is violating its international obligations, which “we must not allow and the Hungarian government will go againts this measure in the most resolute manner”, he added.
Council of Europe shares Hungary’s concerns about Ukraine education law
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.
In the letter dated October 5, Jagland said that
the law “seems to provide less favourable conditions for minority language education in Ukraine.”
The secretary-general said that he had expressed his concerns to the Ukrainian authorities, as well as to the Committee of Ministers on September 27.
“As a result, the Ukrainian authorities decided to request the expertise of the Venice Commission on this law,” he added.
Jagland said he also plans to discuss the issue with the Ukrainian education minister during her visit in Strasbourg and expressed hope to “find ways to cooperate in order to make sure that the legislation of our member state, Ukraine, is in line with our standards.”
Jagland expressed the firm belief that “the respect of our core values, among which the rights of national minorities, is of paramount importance for a strong and democratic Europe”.
Hungary, Romania stand together against Ukraine education law, says Hungarian FM
It is “natural and normal” that Hungary and Romania are speaking out together against Ukraine’s new education law, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told MTI on Monday.
Ukraine’s new rules on education banning post-primary-level education in minority languages were signed into law by the president last week.
The law infringes on the association agreement reached between the EU and Ukraine, which Hungary and Romania had supported, Szijjártó told MTI by phone in Cluj (Kolozsvar) during an official visit. The two countries now “feel they have been stabbed in the back”, he added.
It poses a “serious danger” that bills to amend the citizenship law and the language law are currently before the Ukrainian parliament, he said.
He said that ignoring repeated calls by both Hungary and Romania, Ukraine had enacted the new education law which seriously violates the rights of minorities.
There are more than half a million Hungarians and Romanians living in Ukraine, Szijjártó noted, adding that this explains why Hungary and Romania are acting together on the matter.
The new education law contrenes Ukraine’s constitution in granting more rights to certain minorities than to others, Szijjártó said. As regards the amendment to the language law, Szijjártó said that if adopted by Ukraine’s parliament, the right of the Hungarian and Romanian minorities to use their mother tongue would be substantially restricted.
“This is why it is important that the two countries are now acting together on the matter,” Szijjártó said, adding that “this could send a clear a message to the Ukrainian parliament that passing further amendments would further curb the rights of the country’s minorities”.
In connection with his visit, Szijjártó said he had meet his Romanian counterpart Teodor Melescanu for bilateral talks for the third time in the past two and a half months, which he said was “normal” between two sides representing two neighbouring countries linked by their minorities and as two important economic partners.
He said they agreed at their meeting that national minorities were considered an asset in bilateral relations.
Szijjártó said strategic relations with Romania were in Hungary’s interest.
“It is much better to build a common success story than to manage conflicts,” he added.
In terms of cooperation in energy security matters, Szijjártó welcomed as “good news” Romania’s decision to allow substantial natural gas deliveries to Hungary in 2019 thanks to an agreement between the countries’ respective operators. By 2022, a total of 4.4 billion cubic metres of gas is expected to be shipped between the two countries, he said.
Speaking about infrastructure projects, Szijjártó said plans were to have two motorways linking the two countries by 2020.
As we wrote, Hungarian lawmakers on 19 September unanimously passed a five-party decree condemning “the unlawful Ukrainian education law” and urging measures to be taken against it.
Photo: MTI
Ukraine recalls ambassador in Hungary for consultation
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin recalled Ljubov Nepopot, Ambassador of Ukraine in Budapest for consultation due to Hungarian criticism of the new Ukrainian education law.
“Ukraine’s position on relations with Hungary is unchanged, we are prepared to discuss any issues constructively,”
said the Ukrainian foreign minister. He added that he would soon be travelling to Budapest but did not give a precise date.
He expressed hope that his visit would be successful. He also stated that
he was ready to visit the University of Debrecen and Transcarpathia/Kárpátalja.
The new law on education, which comes into force in 2018 aims to modernize public education; the reforms include among others raising of the mandatory elementary, and secondary education from 11 to 12 years. The law gives schools considerable autonomy and imposes a pay rise to teachers.
However, Article 7 of the Act on Language of Education has provoked a fierce protest by several countries, including Hungary, Romania and Poland.
This part of the law, which will come into effect from September 2020, states: In Ukraine, the language of instruction is Ukrainian. Accordingly, national minorities will only be allowed to study in their mother tongue in the first four grades, alongside Ukrainian, and only in educational institutions run by local governments.
This provision, according to the organizations of national minorities, violates the Constitution of Ukraine, and several international conventions and agreements.
Parliament national minority representatives support decree condemning Ukrainian education law
The committee of the representatives of Hungary’s national minorities voted to support the recent parliamentary decree that condemns Ukraine’s new education law, at its meeting on Tuesday.
The body supported the five-party decree that was passed by Hungary’s parliament in a unanimous vote a week ago with 11 votes in favour and two abstentions. The decree states that the new law, which bans post-primary-level education in minority languages, is “unlawful” and seriously restricts the rights of Ukraine’s Hungarian community to education and use of their mother tongue. It also urges measures to be taken against it.
The committee of national minorities said in a statement that they support the parliamentary decree “with a particular view to the fact” that the new Ukrainian law seriously restricts the rights of the Armenian, Bulgarian, German, Greek, Polish, Roma, Romanian and Slovak communities in that neighbouring country as well.
The representative of Ukrainian minorities, Jaroslava Hartyanyi, abstained from voting, and said that although the new education law was “rather well designed” and introduces reforms, one of its provisions, article 7, restricts already acquired minority rights which she called “unacceptable”.
She said she believed that as a result of international pressure and bilateral talks, the contested provision would be removed from the law.
She further noted that Hungary’s Ukrainian community had appealed to the Ukrainian president asking Petro Poroshenko “via every possible channel” not to sign the law and also stated their solidarity with the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia/Kárpátalja.
She asked other committee members for patience and understanding, saying
she “needed to have a bridge standing” which would allow her “to connect Ukrainians and Hungarians”.
As we wrote, Ukrainian President Petro Porosenko was signing the law yesterday, and the Hungarian Fm said: “We can guarantee that all of this will hurt Ukraine in the future.”
New Ukraine education law ‘blind alley’, says Hungarian government
Ukraine’s new rules restricting schooling in the mother tongue that the president has just signed into law deprives minorities of their rights and leads down a blind alley instead on the path to the European Union, the ministry of human resources said on Tuesday.
The law also violates several international agreements which Ukraine had promised to fulfil as part of its European Union accession plans, including making education and training available in the mother tongue at all levels, the ministry said in a statement.
Hungary’s constitutional obligation is to raise its objections to the law at every international forum in the interest of protecting national minorities,
including the Hungarian minority, the statement said. The human resources minister has called on his Ukrainian counterpart to hold talks with the representatives of Hungarian communities in Transcarpathia/Kárpátalja who have been left out of the legislative process.
The Hungarian government continues to be open for talks with Ukraine in the interest creating fair regulations governing minority language education, the ministry said.
Ukraine’s new education law passed by parliament on September 5 states that its aim is to modernise education, through reforms to be introduced from September 2018. Concerning the language of education, the 7th paragraph of the law states that
Ukraine’s official language in education is Ukrainian and the use of minority languages is allowed only in the first four grades of primary education.
In reaction to Ukrainian President Petro Porosenko signing the law yesterday, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Tuesday said Hungary would block and veto all moves in the EU which, as part of the eastern partnership programme, would advance Ukraine’s European integration process.
“We can guarantee that all of this will hurt Ukraine in the future,” Szijjártó said
during a visit to Singapore, where he is part of a government delegation headed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Orbán’s cabinet weekly press briefing about Ukraine education crisis, migration quotas and other topics
Anyone who endangers Hungarian interests will find themselves up against the Hungarian state, government office chief János Lázár said at his weekly press briefing on Thursday, in connection with the new Ukrainian education law and Romanian policy affecting a school for ethnic Hungarians in Targu Mures (Marosvásárhely).
Lázár said the “coarse violation of Hungarian minority rights” was “unacceptable and shameful”. He called on the Ukrainian president not to sign the law, adding that the law was “a stab in the back”.
“Ukraine will lose a friend,” he said.
The government office chief also said Hungary would withhold its support for Romania’s membership of the OECD unless it sought a satisfactory conclusion to the issue of the Hungarian school in Targu Mures.
Hungary has also expressed its objection to Croatia’s OECD membership,
saying that the country has “harmed Hungarian economic interests”, citing the dispute between the two countries over Croatian oil and gas company INA and Hungarian peer MOL.
Meanwhile, on the subject of pensions paid to high-ranking dignitaries of the Communist regime, Lázár said the government was ready to examine the issue and conduct an investigation omitted in 1990.
Asked about remarks critical of the government by former ombudsman László Majtényi, who heads a prominent NGO, Lázár said NGOs are free to express their opinions, and he added that public life in Hungary was blooming without any hindrance.
Majtényi has accused the government and ruling parties of conducting a smear campaign against NGOs with the intention of intimidating them.
It is easy to blame the opposition parties’ failures on the government in election season, Lázár said. “But the opposition looks in the mirror, sees something appalling and smashes the mirror instead of taking a shave”, he said.
Challenged that opposition referendum bids “seem to go awry all the time”, Lázár said that the opposite was true.
Of opposition initiatives, many reached their goals, he said. Budapest is not hosting the Olympics, the shops are open on Sundays, and parliament has just raised the statute of limitations on corruption charges, just as the opposition proposed, he said. “They should be glad to be able to assert themselves, even in opposition,” he said.
Lázár dismissed a report about plans that the government would take over southern Hungarian city Pécs’s debts in exchange for ownership of the airport Pécs-Pogány,
which then would let to Russian energy giant Rosatom. No property swaps were discussed at the meeting, he said.
In connection with his personal plans, Lázár said that if it depended on him alone then he would work in his constituency between 2018 and 2022 and that he achieve more there than in government. He said, however, he was not without long-term ambitions. “Where there’s a job to do there are ambitions, but it is hard to sit on two horses at once.”
Speaking of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s itinerary in the near future, Lázár said Orbán is travelling to Poland on Friday and then to Vietnam and Singapore. Lázár said there will be no government meeting next week.
Hungarian parliament adopts cross-party decree condemning Ukrainian education law
Lawmakers on Tuesday unanimously passed a five-party decree condemning “the unlawful Ukrainian education law” and urging measures to be taken against it.
The motion was initiated in response to Ukraine’s new education law that bans post-primary-level education in minority languages.
The decree states that the law seriously restricts the rights of Ukraine’s Hungarian community to education and use of their mother tongue.
Further, the new law not only violates European norms but also is counter to a number of fundamental international treaties that Ukraine voluntarily signed up to on protecting a minority’s ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity, it added.
The decree urges the leaders of Ukraine to respect “common European values of democracy and the rule of law” and to stop the new law from taking effect.
It also calls on the Hungarian government to take every possible measure to prevent the new law’s enforcement.
As we wrote, under the Ukrainian law, secondary school and higher education courses will only be available in Ukrainian, while education in minority languages is restricted to kindergartens and primary schools.
As we wrote today, “Hungary is turning to the United Nations because of the amendment of the Ukrainian Educating Act, because Ukraine’s decision also violated the UN’s minority regulations”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a statement.
Photo: MTI
Hungary turns to United Nations because of Ukrainian Education Act
“Hungary is turning to the United Nations because of the amendment of the Ukrainian Educating Act, because Ukraine’s decision also violated the UN’s minority regulations”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI on Tuesday.
The Minister is attending the 72nd Session of the United Nations general Assembly in New York, and while reporting on his negotiations during the visit, he explained:
“Ukraine has made a shameful decision with relation to the amendment of the Education Act”, as a result of which Hungarian children over the age of 10 have been stripped of the right to study in their native language.
“This decision not only violated Ukraine’s international obligation and European Law, but also the UN’s regulations on minorities”, he pointed out.
Mr. Szijjártó told the press that accordingly he had submitted a written request to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights asking for the issue to be investigated, in addition to which Hungary will also be turning to the United Nations general Assembly, which is meeting this week in New York, requesting that the international community apply pressure to Ukraine in the interests of having the decision, which also violates the UN’s minority regulations, rescinded.
Prior to the session of the Foreign Affairs Council, he also spoke to the Foreign Minister of Austria, which holds the current presidency of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), also asking that
the organisation put pressure on Ukraine to ensure that the new legislation does not come into force, Mr. Szijjártó stated.
“Ukraine’s decision goes against every related European regulation and value, in addition to which the country is currently striving to establish closer relations with the European union, but despite this had chosen to ignore one of the most important European values with its decision”, he said.
In view of the fact that the amendment of Ukraine’s Act on Education severely violated the UN’s minority regulations, he has ordered Hungarian diplomats working with the organisation’s various bodies to block all decision that are initiated by or are important to Ukraine, the Hungarian Foreign Minister added.
“Hungary is also insisting that no joint European standpoint can be adopted at the currently ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva without the condemnation of Ukraine with relation to the issue”, he pointed out.
Mr. Szijjártó said that he had also provided a detailed report on the affair to his Visegrád Group (V4) counterparts during their recent meeting, and had made it clear that Hungary will be blocking all issues that are important to Ukraine until the question is resolved.
As we wrote, last week Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (KMKSZ – Kárpátaljai Magyar Kulturális Szövetség) leader László Brenzovics to discuss Ukraine’s new education law, the PM’s press chief said, adding that the law is bad for Hungary-Ukraine ties and breaches Ukraine’s international obligations.
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Photo: MTI/EPA/Szerhij Dolzsenko
Fidesz: New education law could threaten Ukraine’s stability
The coming into effect of Ukraine’s new education law could have a very harmful effect on that country’s stability, the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee said on Monday.
If Ukraine becomes unstable, it will put its European integration perspective at risk, Zsolt Németh told a press conference commenting on the new law, which is set to gradually phase out education in ethnic minority languages after the fifth grade of primary school.
Nemeth, of ruling Fidesz, welcomed that the related Hungarian parliamentary resolution would be supported by all the five parliamentary parties in the Tuesday vote. The resolution will condemn Ukraine’s new education law which threatens the future of 80 ethnic Hungarian schools in Transcarpathia (Kárpátalja), and call on the Ukrainian president to block its coming into effect, he said.
Németh welcomed that
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and his Bulgarian, Greek and Romanian counterparts had taken a joint stand against the new law.
As we wrote, the Russian foreign ministry also called for an international co-operation against the Ukrainian education law, which according to the ministry, violates the rights of millions of ethnic Russians, and it is contrary to Ukraine’s constitution and Kiev’s international commitments.
The committee leader said international organisations are also expected to take action in order to prevent the law from coming into force. As we wrote, the Hungarian government is to call on the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the UN and the EU Commissioner for neighbourhood policy and enlargement negotiations to act on the Ukrainian education bill curbing the right to minority language education.
Németh said he had contacted the head of Romania’s delegation in the Council of Europe and they agreed to initiate an urgent debate about the Ukrainian law at the upcoming CoE session in October.
He expressed agreement with the Ukrainian government’s request for the Venice Commission’s opinion.
Photo: MTI
Orbán: Ukraine decision affecting ethnic Hungarians ‘unfitting’
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (KMKSZ – Kárpátaljai Magyar Kulturális Szövetség) leader László Brenzovics on Monday to discuss Ukraine’s new education law, the PM’s press chief said, adding that the law is bad for Hungary-Ukraine ties and breaches Ukraine’s international obligations.
They were in agreement that the new education law approved by the Ukrainian parliament would hinder education in minority languages, including Hungarian. This infracts the Ukrainian constitution and the country’s international obligations, as well as souring Ukraine-Hungarian ties, Bertalan Havasi said.
“Hungary, Ukraine and the ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia (Kárpátalja) have a vested interest in good neighbourly relations, but such measures buck them,” Havasi said.
Hungary has consistently stood up for Ukraine’s sovereignty and European Union integration, and has vocally supported an EU visa waiver for Ukrainians. Orbán and Brenzovics were in agreement that the Ukrainian decision affecting ethnic Hungarians “is especially unfitting”, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Hungary’s parliamentary parties have called on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to send the bill back to parliament.
Speaking at a press conference after five-party talks, Zsolt Németh, the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, called the law “anti-European” and said it would violate basic human and minority rights if it came into effect. He added that the law could “further destabilise” Ukraine.
The law would hurt a number of national minority groups, Nemeth said, noting that Romania, Bulgaria and Poland all shared Hungary’s position on the matter.
Foreign ministry state secretary Levente Magyar welcomed the parliamentary parties’ joint opposition to the law and support “for Hungary’s national interests“. He said Hungary would not suspend, but rather step up, its humanitarian and development aid to Ukraine, arguing that “blind politics”, rather than the recipients of Hungarian aid, was to blame for the education law.
As we wrote today, the Hungarian government is to call on the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the UN and the EU Commissioner for neighbourhood policy and enlargement negotiations to act on the Ukrainian education bill curbing the right to minority language education, the foreign minister told a press conference on Monday.
Hungary turns to international organisations over Ukrainian education bill
The Hungarian government is to call on the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the UN and the EU Commissioner for neighbourhood policy and enlargement negotiations to act on the Ukrainian education bill curbing the right to minority language education, the foreign minister told a press conference on Monday.
It is Hungary’s duty to protect all Hungarians, whether they live in the country or abroad, Péter Szijjártó said.
Under an amendment approved by the Ukrainian parliament last Tuesday but not yet signed by President Petro Poroshenko, education in minority languages in Ukraine would be restricted to kindergartens and primary schools.
Commenting on the changes, Szijjártó said the amendment threatened the operations of a significant number of Hungarian schools in western Ukraine’s Transcarpathia/Kárpátalja region.
The minister said the legislation was also in violation of Ukraine’s international commitments. He said Hungary was ready to use all international forums to stop the implementation of the “outrageous” bill, which “makes minority language education virtually impossible from the 5th grade upwards”, he said.
Hungary is going to withhold support for all Ukrainian initiatives in international organisations, as well as for causes important to that country, Szijjarto said.
Commenting on the developments on the closure of a Catholic secondary school attended mostly by Hungarian students in Targu Mures (Marosvásárhely), Romania, Szijjártó praised “the approach and measures” of the Romanian head of government, Mihai Tudose. All that was achieved, however, was that the Hungarian students now attended another Hungarian school, he said. “This is clearly not the end of the issue”, he said. Until the matter is resolved, Hungary refuses to back Romania’s bid for OECD membership, he said.
Green opposition LMP’s co-leader Bernadett Szél told a press conference on Monday that LMP is calling on all parties to sign a document asking Poroshenko to refuse signing the education bill into law. She said minority language use should be an issue uniting all Hungarian politicians above party lines, and lamented that the ruling parties had stayed away from the demonstration organised by the opposition during the weekend against the bill.
Photo: MTI
Ukraine education law ‘stab in the back’ for Hungary, says foreign minister
Ukraine “stabbed Hungary in the back” by passing an election law “that severely violates” the rights of its Hungarian minority, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after an informal meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Tallinn on Thursday.
“We consider it shameful that the amendment seriously violates the rights of the Hungarian minority,” Szijjártó told MTI by phone. “It is shameful that a country striving for increasingly closer ties with the EU has passed a law that goes directly against European values.”
“It is unacceptable that Hungarians living in Ukraine have been stripped of their right to be taught in their native language in secondary school and university,” the minister said, noting that education in minority languages has been restricted to kindergartens and primary schools. He said the amendment threatened the operations of a significant number of Hungarian schools in western Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region.
Szijjártó said the law was also in violation of Ukraine’s international commitments. He vowed that the Hungarian government would challenge the amendment in every European forum in an effort to prevent it from taking effect.
The minister said Ukraine’s adoption of the law was “especially unfriendly” towards Hungary in light of the amount of help Hungary has given the country in advancing its European integration process and improving its social and security situation.
“We were the most vociferous supporters of granting Ukraine visa-free status,” Szijjártó said, adding that Hungary was also among the first EU member states to ratify Ukraine’s association agreement with the bloc.
He noted that Hungary had donated 600 million forints (EUR 1.95m) to Ukraine in humanitarian aid, has hosted 2,600 Ukrainian children in summer camps over the past three years and that the country also receives gas via Hungary.
The meeting was also attended by the EU’s Eastern partner countries, including Ukraine.
As we published the Jobbik’s view, it is a violation of Ukraine’s international commitments and the Hungary-Ukraine Treaty, as well as an outrageous and unacceptable act that the Ukrainian Parliament approved at second reading the bill that could be the basis for the complete elimination of Hungarian language education in public primary and secondary schools and higher education institutions. Local members and supporters have informed Jobbik that many Hungarian parents are planning to take their children out of the schools and likely bring them over to Hungary.
Photo: MTI
Jobbik calls upon government to protect Hungarian school in Ukraine
In Jobbik’s view, it is a violation of Ukraine’s international commitments and the Hungary-Ukraine Treaty, as well as an outrageous and unacceptable act that the Ukrainian Parliament approved at second reading the bill that could be the basis for the complete elimination of Hungarian language education in public primary and secondary schools and higher education institutions. Local members and supporters have informed Jobbik that many Hungarian parents are planning to take their children out of the schools and likely bring them over to Hungary.
Press release
Such an occurrence may be a final blow to the Transcarpathian Hungarian community, which has already been extremely weakened by the civil war and the economic collapse in Ukraine. So Jobbik Movement for a Better Hungary welcomes the joint protest of the largest Transcarpathian Hungarian organizations. We are also happy that state secretary for national policy Árpád János Potápi finally made a firm stance to criticize the Ukrainian government’s chauvinism after so many years. We must also point out however, that the said law clearly indicates the failure of Fidesz’ foreign policy of giving unilateral gestures to our neighbours. In this regard, the current government is unfortunately following the practice of the previous Socialist cabinets. The Hungarian government’s activities in recent years have been characterized by an otherwise welcome increase of funds allocated to the Hungarian communities living beyond our borders but in the meantime, the cabinet almost completely gave up on raising the violation of Hungarian minority rights as an issue in the bilateral relations. They always preferred a slap on the back from some chetnik in Belgrade or the increasingly elusive friendship of Robert Fico. Typically enough, Foreign Affairs Minister Szijjártó never fails to stand for “Ukraine’s territorial integrity” and unconditionally supports Kiev’s EU accession – the latest example was when Hungary lobbied for visa free travel and association agreements – but the Ukrainian government refuses to give even the smallest concessions in return, on the contrary, they discriminate and trample upon the rights of ethnic communities living in their territory.
After Jobbik getting into government in 2018, the interest of the Hungarian ethnic minorities living in the neighbouring countries will always have the top priority. Let us point out once again: we are not going to support Ukraine’s (and Serbia’s) EU accession unless they treat the native ethnic communities living in their territories as state-forming nations and actively seek expanding their rights rather than curbing them. The Euro-Atlantic integration of our neighbours is a Hungarian interest, too, but not at all costs!
So Jobbik expects the Hungarian government to take a categorical and firm stance against the amendment of the Ukrainian education act and to prevent it from being signed into law and becoming effective, thus preventing the deprivation of the Transcarpathian Hungarian community in its own homeland! Fidesz should not only fight Brussels when the EU criticizes their laws designed to build an authoritarian state but also when the situation of the Hungarian communities living in the territories torn away from us demands the protection of the Motherland! So we call upon Viktor Orbán to raise the issue of this most vulnerable and poorest Hungarian community of ours in international forums and demand a joint European action against Ukraine!
New Ukraine’s law: secondary school and higher education courses will only be available in Ukrainian
The Hungarian government has strenuously protested a recent education law passed by Ukraine’s parliament, János Árpád Potápi, the state secretary in charge of policy for Hungarian communities abroad.
According to Potápi’s statement, the new law strips Ukraine‘s ethnic minorities of access to schooling in their mother tongue, restricting their opportunities to prosper in their homeland.
Under the Ukrainian law, secondary school and higher education courses will only be available in Ukrainian, while education in minority languages is restricted to kindergartens and primary schools. It is an “unprecedented curbing” of the rights of 150,000 ethnic Hungarians and “totally unconstitutional”, Potápi said.
The new legislation contradicts Ukraine’s earlier pledges not to curb the rights of its Hungarian minority, Potápi said. The Hungarian government expects Ukraine to re-consider enforcing the law and to change it so the rights of ethnic minorities are not harmed, the statement added.