Hungary will remain in the same positions regarding the Ukrainian law on education. Peter Szijarto, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Hungary said that at a press conference in Budapest.
The Hungarian official said that the veto right, which any NATO member country may use, is 'the only instrument that Hungary might use to protect the sub-Carpathian Hungarians and thus make Ukraine act in the frameworks of the international norms'.
'It is an obligation of Hungary's foreign policy to protect Hungarians wherever they reside... Hungary cannot agree that the national minorities issue should not be related to the veto right in the international organization. Ukraine should respect the rights of national minorities. If the country really aims for closer ties with the NATO and the EU, it should live up to their expectations,' he said.
As we reported the Venice Commission did not support Hungary’s accusations of infringement of ethnic minorities’ rights by the education law in Ukraine.
The new law on education was signed by Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko on September 25. In particular, it introduces a 12-year-long school program and limits the number of subjects taught in the languages of national minorities. This particular decision evoked outrage in Moldova, Romania, Russia, and Hungary. Budapest even threatened to slow down the process of Ukraine’s integration with the EU.
