For some reason, the new Ukrainian law on education, which calls for a larger number of subjects in this country’s ethnic minority schools to be taught in the official, i.e., Ukrainian, language, has aroused the greatest indignation in no other neighboring country than Hungary. Incidentally, it is graduates of Ukraine’s Hungarian schools who are unable to pass External Independent Testing in the Ukrainian language and, accordingly, stand no chances to gain a high-quality higher education in Ukraine whose citizens they are.
And, instead of looking thoroughly into this law, especially into the way of its implementation, the Hungarian side has in fact begun to issue ultimatums to Ukraine.
Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Budapest would propose that the European Union revise the Association Agreement with Ukraine because of the disputable law. “The education law fundamentally violates the association agreement concluded by Ukraine and the European Union, and with regard to this I shall initiate a review of the ... agreement at the meeting of [EU] foreign ministers…,” the Hungarian politician emphasized.
Official Kyiv has expressed surprise over Szijjarto’s position, for, up to now, the two capitals have been resolving all problems by way of a dialog. “Hungary is free to raise any questions within the EU framework. But decisions in respect of Ukraine cannot be made without [the participation of] Ukraine which is paying an extremely high price for its place in Europe,” Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, venting its discontent, in a statement.
Incidentally, the German Foreign Ministry is taking a positive attitude to these steps of the Ukrainian leadership. Berlin is saying it will follow closely the implementation of the new law, which Kyiv must coordinate with representatives of ethnic minorities. “Representatives in Berlin are pleased that Kyiv submitted the controversial legislative package to the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission for review,” Deutsche Welle quotes a German Foreign Ministry official as saying.
And it cannot escape our attention that certain political parties in Hungary are trying, against the backdrop of debates over the language law in Ukraine, to take advantage of this conflict for making territorial claims to our country. In particular, a far right nationalist party organized a rally under the slogan “Self-determination for Transcarpathia” in Budapest the other day, against which Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a protest.
“A SERIOUS EXPERT-LEVEL DISCUSSION IS A PATH TO MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING”
Why is Hungary reacting so strongly against our law on education and does not want to impartially look into it, and did Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin manage to ease tension, at least a little, during his visit to Budapest and find some understanding on the part of Hungary? We put this question to Liubov NEPOP, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Hungary.
“The new law ‘On Education’ has triggered an extremely strong reaction in Hungary, which considerably differs from that of other countries in terms of emotionality and heat. This reaction should be viewed in the general context of Budapest’s sensitivity to the question of links with ethnic Hungarians abroad and the preservation of their identity, which is in turn connected with a deep-seated public perception of the Treaty of Trianon as a historical trauma.
“At the same time, the wave of emotional reactions has created very many myths about the education law and its essence. For this reason, our key goal was to extend authentic information about the law to our Hungarian partners and make it possible to switch from criticisms to a dialog.
“From this angle, the goal of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin’s visit to Hungary on October 12 was achieved. Before and during the visit, the minister gave several interviews, and a joint press conference lasted longer than it was planned, which made it possible to answer all the questions that worry the partners. The minister had some meetings at the Hungarian parliament and with the Ukrainian community. Has Hungary changed its position? I think it would be too optimistic to expect this from one visit. But we have achieved the goal we set – we showed readiness for a dialog and explained our position. Now we expect our partners to meet us halfway, too. I hope that Hungary’s Minister of Human Resources, Zoltan Balog, will visit Kyiv on October 19 to discuss the law problem with Lilia Hrynevych, Ukraine’s Minister of Education and Science. A serious expert-level discussion is a path to mutual understanding. And, concurrently, we suggest to our partners that we wait for the Venice Commission’s conclusions about the law. Incidentally, asked about the Budapest-initiated debate on the law problem at a press conference following the meeting of the European Union’s foreign ministers, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini also said that the EU would wait for the Venice Commission’s decision. So, there is a way to ease tension. We are also prepared for this.”
“MOSCOW IS OBVIOUSLY INTERESTED IN CAUSING UKRAINE AND HUNGARY TO QUARREL”
What do you think brought about a situation when a rally under the slogan “Self-determination for Transcarpathia” is being held near our embassy and, moreover, the participants in it are making statements, as if taken from Russian TV channels, about the coup in Ukraine, etc.? Can this discontent be explained by the forthcoming parliamentary elections next year?
“The Ukrainian side has expressed protest against the rally near the embassy on the grounds of the content of this event. As you can see, we cannot be against any rallies because it is a manifestation of democracy. But the slogan of Transcarpathia’s self-determination, the incitement to use Kosovo as an example, and recognition of the annexation of Crimea is not a question of the freedom of speech and expression – it is a question of disrespect for our country’s territorial integrity. This is why we have reacted so strongly to this event and think that this action must be condemned. They chose the education law as a pretext for holding the rally – it is an illustrious example of how playing on emotions can be used for provocations.
“At the same time, I’d like to note that the rally was organized by the marginal figures who are well-known for their statements and who are forbidden to enter Ukraine. The activist, who donned a T-shirt reading ‘Crimea belongs to Russia by law. Transcarpathia belongs to Hungary by law. Self-determination to the peoples that are forced to live in Ukraine!’ and called so passionately for cherishing European values, became known as far back as 2014 when he threw the EU flag out of the Hungarian parliament’s window. Besides, this rally can be unequivocally called a marginal act. At the same time, things like this must also be responded to and condemned. This action also shows our Hungarian colleagues that it is very important to switch from emotions to a calm discussion of the education law in order to ward off further speculations about using this law as a pretext. Incidentally, there is another interesting detail. It is a Russia-registered Hungarian-language resource that posted a video about the rally. Moscow is obviously interested in causing Ukraine and Hungary to quarrel at any cost. We must resist it, but we should work together to achieve success.”
