Why is the Hungarian nationality being suppressed in Ukraine?

The new Ukrainian minority law is a step backwards for local minorities. However, the amendment of the basic Hungarian-Ukrainian treaty could give additional rights to the Hungarians of Transcarpathia.

Protecting minorities for EU accession

Ukraine must comply with international minority protection rules if it wants to join the European Union. For this reason, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted a new law on national minorities in December 2022. This new law has, however, attracted criticism from several minority organisations.

Ukraine has been an independent state since 1991. In 1992, it adopted the Law on the Protection of Minorities, which, together with other rules, is repealed by the new Law on National Minorities. Part of the law, adopted in December 2022, has already entered into force, but most of it will enter into force on 1 July.

According to international lawyer Norbert Tóth, the new law is a step backwards compared to the previous one. “It is true that the previous rules were not consistently implemented, but they still provided broader legal protection and opportunities for minorities living in Ukraine,” Tóth said.

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Problems with the new law

Norbert Tóth also saw the absence of the term national cultural autonomy in the new Ukrainian law as a problem. It does not mention either that minorities have the right to their national holidays and their celebration or the right to their national symbols, infostart.hu reports. This is how the Hungarian flags were taken down from the buildings of the municipalities in Transcarpathia.

The new law also raises concerns about the use of languages. The freedom to choose the language of education is a step forward. But only in private educational institutions where there is no Ukrainian public funding. The previous law was much more permissive.

“If Ukraine was starting from scratch, this 2022 law would be good, but it is a step backwards compared to the level of legal protection, which is why minorities living on Ukrainian territory object to the new legislation,” the expert said.

The law is under scrutiny

The Venice Commission, an advisory body of independent constitutional lawyers to the Council of Europe, is already examining the new law. The question is how much Ukraine would change it to join the European Union. One solution could be that if there is an international treaty that is more generous than the Ukrainian minority law, it should be applied.

“The Council of Europe has two treaties on the protection of minorities, but they do not provide a solution to the problems of the Hungarian and Romanian minorities. Obviously, the Ukrainians are primarily bothered by the Russian issue. Still, from the Hungarians’ point of view it would be appropriate to amend the Hungarian-Ukrainian basic treaty in such a way that certain additional rights would be granted to the Hungarians in Transcarpathia because the new Ukrainian minority law would allow this and this could pull the fangs of this problem”, the international lawyer said.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó held talks with the secretary-general of the European Council in Strasbourg on Wednesday. “When the war broke out in the neighbouring country, we decided not to raise the issue of the deprivation of rights of national communities. But in Ukraine, unfortunately, a new law has recently been adopted that further restricts minority rights,” Szijjártó said in his Facebook post.

Read alsoReader’s letter: Who is responsible for national oppression in Transcarpathia?

Source: Facebook, infostart.hu