Hungary boasts of agreement with Ukraine: achieving what Viktor Orbán failed to do in 10 years

Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orbán has welcomed the submission of a draft law on the educational rights of national minorities to the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament), stating that she expects it to be passed this month.

Source: Anita Orbán on Facebook; European Pravda

Details: The Hungarian foreign minister noted that Vsevolod Chentsov, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, had personally informed her about the submission of the relevant draft law to the Verkhovna Rada.

Quote from Anita Orbán: "We welcome this step, which was preceded by bilateral Ukrainian-Hungarian professional consultations that took place over the past few weeks, as well as consultations with representatives of the Hungarian community in Zakarpattia. The adoption of the draft law can strengthen the legal guarantees of education in Hungarian as a mother tongue, as well as the network of educational institutions."

Details: According to Orbán, the Ukrainian parliament is expected to make a decision on the draft law this month. Orbán added that Hungary remains interested in dialogue and in achieving results "that will be tangible in the everyday life of the Hungarian community in Zakarpattia".

She thanked the Ukrainian and Hungarian experts involved in this matter for their constructive, forward-looking and professional work over the past few weeks.

At the same time, the foreign minister stated that the new Hungarian government had "managed to achieve more real results in strengthening the rights of the Hungarian minority in Zakarpattia" in a few months than Viktor Orbán's government had in 10 years.

Background:

• Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar also welcomed the submission of the bill on education in national minority languages to the Verkhovna Rada.

• On 1 October, a bill on education in the languages of national minorities was registered in the Verkhovna Rada. Its adoption is expected to help lift Hungary's veto and clear the way for two of the negotiating clusters.
• Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha expressed the hope that the adoption of the legislative changes would allow the opening of the next two clusters in Ukraine's EU accession negotiations.

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