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34 I Central Europe bne November 2017
Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto
Hungary reportedly threatens to torpedo Ukraine-EU association pact amid language dispute
There are some 150,000 ethnic Hungarians living in the western part of Ukraine. Budapest has made it a priority to support financially the cultural and educational insti- tutions of ethnic minorities liv-
ing in Hungary’s neighbours.
According to the new legislation in the future children from national minorities will be taught all subjects in Ukrainian from the fifth grade upwards (age
10). Poland and Romania have also expressed concern about the norms of the new law, which was mainly targeted at the Russian-speaking population living in the eastern regions of Ukraine.
On September 26, Szijjarto prom-
ised Hungary will block "all steps within the European Union that would repre- sent a step forward in Ukraine’s Euro- pean integration process in the spirit
of the Eastern Partnership programme".
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Foreign Minis- ter Pavlo Klimkin said on October 10 that he is "very surprised" by Szijjarto's statements. "I plan to discuss all issues on October 12 in Budapest," Klim-
kin tweeted. "For us, the revision of the association agreement is pos-
sible only in the context of ensuring Ukraine's clear European perspective."
Earlier this year, the Council of the European Union completed the process of ratification of the Ukraine-EU associa- tion agreement following the ratifica- tion of the pact with Ukraine in late
May by the upper house of the Dutch parliament even though more than
60% of Dutch voters had rejected it in
a non-binding referendum in April 2016.
Signed in 2014, the association agreement with Ukraine should
help converge economic policy, legislation and regulation in areas like labour rights, visa-free movement, and exchange of information and staff in the justice sphere.
bne IntelliNews
Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto believes that a new Ukrainian education law violates the principles
of the Ukraine-EU association agree- ment, and Budapest wants to initiate
a review of the pact, Interfax news agency reported on October 10 citing the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet.
On September 25, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the new law,
www.bne.eu
which was approved earlier by the coun- try's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. According to the Hungarian authorities, Ukraine’s association agreement reduc- es the rights of minorities to receive education in their native languages.
“It is time to let Bulgaria and Romania into the EU’s Schengen zone”