The Rada supported amendments on minority languages insisted upon by Hungary

Today, October 12, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in principle and as a whole amendments to the law on education, aimed at securing Hungary's consent to opening the second and third negotiating clusters on Ukraine's accession to the European Union. This is reported by "Yevropeiska Pravda".

For draft law No. 16119, 273 deputies voted in favor in principle, and 266 as a whole, reported MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak. He added that the draft law was immediately instructed to be urgently signed by the head of the Verkhovna Rada and sent to the president for signature.

To recall, earlier in the Verkhovna Rada published a draft law on teaching in the languages of national minorities. 

In the text of the draft law it specifically states that instruction in schools must be conducted in Ukrainian. At the same time, in classes where students study in the language of an indigenous people of Ukraine or of a national minority that is an official EU language, students may use that language alongside Ukrainian during lessons and communication at school.

The draft law also introduces the concept of general secondary education institutions with the status of an institution of a national minority (community) of Ukraine. Such status may be granted to an institution in which more than 50% of students receiving education in the language of a national minority (community) make up the total number of students.

On the draft law reacted Prime Minister of Hungary Péter Magyar. He welcomed it and noted that this draft law should strengthen legal guarantees of education in Hungarian in Ukraine.