Hungarian–Ukrainian Agreement: Will the Agreed Commitments Be Implemented?

Yesterday, at the meeting of the delegation to the EU–Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee, Viktória Ferenc, MEP for Fidesz–KDNP and the member of the Patriots for Europe Group, drew attention to the latest developments affecting the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia: “Just a few days after the opening of the first negotiation cluster and the conclusion of the Ukrainian–Hungarian expert consultations, the heads of Hungarian educational institutions in Transcarpathia received a letter from the Ukrainian Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language. In the letter, the Commissioner calls on the institutions to take the necessary measures to ensure compliance with the legislation governing the use of the state language, citing numerous complaints alleging that the languages of national minorities, rather than the state language, had been used during sports activities on school premises. In my view, the Language Commissioner is once again calling for further restrictions on the use of minority languages.”

“This raises the question of how such a measure is consistent with the spirit and objectives of the recently concluded Hungarian–Ukrainian agreement on strengthening minority rights, particularly in light of Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s statement that the Hungarian language would be freely used not only in the educational process but in all areas of communication within schools,” the MEP added.

The Fidesz MEP of Transcarpathian origin emphasized: “Unfortunately, the Ukrainian Language Commissioner’s letter conveys a message that is entirely inconsistent with what minority communities were legitimately entitled to expect following these high-level statements, commitments, and the opening of the first negotiation cluster.”

“The opening of the first negotiation cluster is an important milestone. It is essential that we closely monitor how the commitments undertaken by Ukraine are translated into legislation, and how that legislation is implemented in practice in the daily lives of minority communities. With this in mind, I called on the European Commission to treat this issue as a top priority, because, as we can see, promises alone do not constitute real guarantees. These commitments must be enshrined in law as soon as possible, and their effective implementation must also be ensured,” the MEP said following the meeting.