Venice commission did not support Hungary’s accusations against Ukraine
The Venice Commission did not support the accusations of Hungary in narrowing the rights of ethnic minorities in the Article on the language of education in the Ukrainian law, the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine reports, citing the conclusions of the Venice Commission of December 8th.
"We are also grateful that the Commission accepted Ukraine’s argument regarding reproaches that the article on the language of the law "On Education" narrows the rights of the national minorities’ representatives," the report said.
It is noted in the information that the Venice Commission has stated that the issues of the content and amount of rights are exclusively within the competence of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and a number of questions concerning the use of languages should be resolved by special laws.
"Therefore, Hungary’s accusations are not supported," as indicated in the statement of the Ministry of Education and Science.
One of the important recommendations of the Commission is to extend the transition period for the implementation of the article. So, at present, the law "On Education" indicates that the article on language should fully enter into force in 2020, they note in the Ministry of Education and Science.
It is agreed in the Ministry that, from a pedagogical point of view, the continuation of the transition period is justified, and will fully support this recommendation.
"The Commission also underlined that Ukraine should make maximum use of the possibilities of paragraph 4, Article 7, which the Ministry of Education plans to do," the report said.
This paragraph provides that in educational institutions, in accordance with the educational program, one or more disciplines can be taught in two or more languages - the state language, in English, and in other official languages of the European Union.
On September 28th the law of Ukraine "On Education" came into effect. It stipulates, among other things, that the language of the educational process in educational institutions is the state language, but in accordance with the educational program one or more disciplines can be taught in two or more languages - state, English, or other official languages of the European Union. Persons belonging to national minorities are guaranteed the right to study in their native language along with the Ukrainian language in certain classes (groups) of communal institutions of preschool and primary education.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine sent the law for examination to the Venice Commission.
As reported, Hungary promised "to hurt the future of Ukraine" in response to the signing of the law "On Education,” The country intends to block any European integration initiatives of Ukraine because of the language norms of the new edition of the law.