Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Szijjzrto at a Monday meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council did not raise the issue of revising the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, only stressing the need to address Ukraine’s "violations" of minority rights by passing the recent education law, a top European diplomat has told an UNIAN correspondent in Brussels.
"Hungary raised the issue of education law in Ukraine during the debate on human rights at FAC [Foreign Affairs Council], saying it violates the rights of minorities. The minister suggested it is raised with Ukraine during the Association Council planned for December (by then Venice Commission preliminary opinion is also likely to be available). This is what is now expected to happen. Several ministers in the broader human rights discussion also stressed the importance of respect of minority rights. Since you asked about a review of the Association Agreement - this was not mentioned," the source said.
The diplomat added that the Ukraine education law issue was addressed during today’s meeting within the framework of the discussion on human rights.
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Speaking to reporters ahead of the Monday meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, Szijjarto claimed that Ukraine has “taken away the right of all the minorities to use exclusively their native language in education above the age of ten”.
“This is a brutal violation of human rights, a brutal violation of minority rights, and a brutal violation of the [Ukraine-EU] Association Agreement,” he said, adding that he “will initiate that [issue] during the next session of the Association Council with Ukraine.”
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Persons who belong to the indigenous peoples, national minorities of Ukraine, who have started to receive general secondary education before September 1, 2018, shall continue to receive such education by September 1, 2020, in accordance with the rules enforced before the new law becomes effective, with a gradual increase in the number of classes taught in Ukrainian.
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Language-related Article 7 of the education law was sent to the Venice Commission late in September for expert evaluation. Its conclusion on the article is expected by December.
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Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin tweeted on October 9 to invite Szijjarto to a joint visit to Zakarpattia region to discuss the language provisions of the education law. However, Szijjarto refused to meet with Klimkin, saying that his Ukrainian counterpart was late with the proposal, and the meeting with Zakarpattia's Hungarians should have taken place before the adoption of the education law.