Hungarian lawmaker Lőrinc Nacsa has called on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to monitor the situation of Transcarpathia Hungarians after Ukraine’s 2017 public education law curbed their access to Hungarian language post-primary-level education.
According to MTI, Nacsa, of the Christian Democrat (KDNP) party, said that the Hungarian ethnic minority should not be used for campaign purposes in the upcoming Ukrainian election.
Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland said the protection of minority rights and minority languages is an important duty of the Council as well as the individual member states. He expressed hope that after further talks, Ukraine will fulfil its obligations and heed the recommendations of the CoE’s Venice Commission.
Fidesz’s Zsolt Németh, the head of the Hungarian delegation, welcomed as a “significant development” that “Jagland pledged that the body would follow the state of minority rights in Ukraine carefully”.