Hungarian Ambassador to Ukraine Ernő Keskeny believes that possible amendments to the legislation of Ukraine concerning the state language may infringe upon the rights of national minorities.
“We are concerned that there is a process that will not expand, but will reduce the rights of national minorities on the territory of Ukraine.This affects education, the scope of the law on language. (…) If these bills are adopted, unfortunately, they will reduce the rights of national minorities. We hope that these new draft laws will not be adopted in the end,” the ambassador said at a round table “Hungarian Factor in Internal Policy of Ukraine”on Tuesday in Kiev.
According to him, such legislative initiatives are of concern not only to the Hungarians, but also to the Poles, Bulgarians, Romanians, Slovaks living on the territory of Ukraine. “All those who are now receiving education in their native language will have less rights under new laws in these areas,” the ambassador added.
Keskeny also expressed hope that the existing legislation that regulates the rights of national minorities on the territory of Ukraine will be preserved.