Lavrov complains about 'oppression of Russian-speaking Ukrainians' because of Ukrainian education law
During the 24th OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the new Ukrainian law on education oppresses “millions of Russian-speaking Ukrainians” , RIA Novosti reported.
The head of the foreign policy department believes that Brussels has not responded to the Ukrainian law with sufficient harshness. According to him, it “violates Kyiv’s international obligations” and is directed against the Russian language, which “millions of citizens of Ukraine” speak.
“I am turning attention to this and I hope that everyone understands the shame of indulging this game against the Russian language, native to millions of Ukrainian citizens,” Lavrov said.
On September 5, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on education, which is the beginning of education reforms in Ukraine. The law, among other things, determines that the language used for the educational process in educational institutions is the state language.
The law has been criticized in Russia, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Greece, and Bulgaria. They believe that it violates the rights of national minorities.
In this regard, Hungary has promised to block any European integration initiatives of Ukraine because of the language standard established by the new law.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Science said that the new education law is in harmony with the Constitution of Ukraine and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.