[lg policy] Hungary blames Ukraine for 'brutal attack' against national minorities

[Harold Schiffman]

 Hungary blames Ukraine for 'brutal attack' against national minorities
02.03.2018 10:30
539
A "brutal attack" has been launched against national minorities in Ukraine,
as evidenced by the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
regarding unconstitutionality of the law on the principles of the state
language policy.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto stated this
in Budapest on Thursday, March 1, Radio Liberty reports.

"The Ukrainian government has set itself two nationalistic tasks - first:
that the national minorities could not study, the second: that they could
not speak their native language," he said.

In his opinion, the signs that the national minorities "have indeed been
targeted" are events around the "language law," as well as attacks against
the headquarters of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association.

"[They are] repealing the Language Act that gave minorities the right to
use their own native language. What is happening in Ukraine could not
happen in a country that is governed by the rule of law," Szijjarto said.

He stated that until now, the lower limit for the use of native languages
by minorities was 10 percent of the population. "According to current plans
the new limit will be 33 percent," he said.

In addition, Szijjarto reaffirmed that his country "will not be supporting
Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration aspirations until the rights of
minorities are duly restored."

Hungary has already blocked the holding of a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine
Commission at the ministerial level for the second time because of claims
to the language article of the Ukrainian law on education.

Budapest alleges that the language article of the education law in Ukraine
violates the rights of the Hungarian minority. Kyiv denies these
allegations.


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 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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