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World

Hungary welcomes Ukraine bill on Hungarian minority education rights

Hungary has welcomed Ukraine's move to submit draft legislation strengthening the education rights of its ethnic Hungarian minority, a long-running dispute that has strained bilateral ties.

By James Calloway · · 1 min read

Photo: Ostro

Hungary on Friday welcomed Ukraine’s move to submit draft legislation to parliament strengthening the education rights of its ethnic Hungarian minority, a dispute that has strained ties and complicated Hungary’s support for Ukraine’s EU membership bid.

Prime Minister Peter Magyar said in a Facebook post: “The bill strengthens the legal guarantees of education in the Hungarian language, and the network of educational institutions.”

Magyar has taken a less confrontational stance towards Kyiv than his predecessor Viktor Orban, but he says progress on the rights of the roughly 100,000 ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine is a prerequisite for Budapest’s backing of Ukraine’s EU accession.

Foreign Minister Anita Orban said on Friday that Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Vsevolod Chentsov had informed her the bill would be submitted to parliament, with a decision expected this month. The move was preceded by bilateral expert-level talks and consultations with Transcarpathian Hungarian community representatives.

The announcement follows June’s agreement between Hungary and Ukraine on language, cultural and educational rights. Magyar said then that once the terms were enshrined in legislation and an action plan for accession talks, Hungary would support opening the first cluster of accession negotiations. He remains opposed to accelerated membership talks.

Ukrainska Pravda reported that the bill was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on October 1, and that its adoption is expected to help lift Hungary’s veto and clear the way for two negotiating clusters. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha voiced hope that adoption would allow the opening of the next two clusters.

Sources

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