Ukraine and Hungary reach an agreement on ways to resolve national language issue
During negotiations with Hungary, Ukraine agreed on ways to resolve the issue of languages of national minorities in Transcarpathia as stated by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar after the meeting with the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Lamberto Zannier in Uzhgorod.
"We can say with cautious optimism that the long-lasting negotiations with the Hungarians have resulted in agreeing on key positions: on ways of resolving the "language issue," the launch of a joint cross border control, and the development of border infrastructure. Step by step to normality," Bodnar wrote on Twitter after talks.
Recent provocations in Uzhgorod led to the meeting with Zannier on Thursday, February 7. On February 4, 2018, unknown suspects attacked the premises of the Transcarpathian Hungarians Society in Uzhgorod, probably with a Molotov cocktail. After that, the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the attack proved the necessity of the presence of OSCE observers in Transcarpathia which was earlier proposed by the Hungarian authorities.
On the same day of Zannier’s meeting, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a decree that ordered the establishment of a representative office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Uzhgorod.
Hungary's relations with Ukraine became strained after the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law "On Education" in September 2017, which stipulates that teaching in schools of national minorities on the territory of Ukraine shall be carried out in the state language of Ukraine.