REUTERS

The Hungarian government has reacted to Ukraine's language bill adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on April 25 and vowed to keep blocking high-level Ukraine-NATO talks.

"Sources tell me that Hungarian gov't officials made it clear to NATO DSG [Deputy Secretary General Rose] Gottemoeller during her visit to Budapest that Hungary will keep blocking high-level Ukraine-NATO talks if UA passes its language law (which just happened) or in case of any infringement of minority rights," Hungarian journalist Szabolcs Panyi wrote on Twitter on April 25 with reference to sources in the Hungarian government.

Read alsoPro-Russian faction's deputies block signing of language law in Ukraine

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As UNIAN reported earlier, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, on April 25 adopted the draft law on ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the national language.

Some 278 Members of Parliament backed the decision.

The law is not applicable to the sphere of private communication and religious ceremonies.

This law comes into force one month from the date of its publication, except for a number of provisions whose entry is postponed for several years.

The law provides that every citizen of Ukraine is obliged to speak Ukrainian as the language of his or her citizenship. It is noted that the state shall organize Ukrainian language courses for adults and provide an opportunity for citizens of Ukraine to learn the national language free if they had no opportunity.

According to the law, a person seeking Ukrainian citizenship is obliged to pass a Ukrainian language test. However, individuals who perform military service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and are given a state award and those whose citizenship of Ukraine is of state interest for the country have the right to acquire Ukrainian citizenship without taking the language test, but are obliged master it within one year from the date they are granted Ukraine's citizenship.