14:55 26.09.2017

Hungary to block Ukraine's closer ties with EU because of education law

2 min read
Hungary to block Ukraine's closer ties with EU because of education law

The Hungarian government has decided to block any further decisions by the European Union to build closer ties with Ukraine after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the new legislation on education, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry said.

"We can guarantee that this will deal a severe blow to Ukraine's future," the Ukrainian online publication Yevropeiska Pravda (European Truth) quoted Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto as saying.

This decision came as Budapest's reply to Poroshenko's decision to sign the bill on education into law, it said.

Szijjarto described Poroshenko's decision as "shameful." While Poroshenko has declared that Ukraine desires to be closer to Europe, the decision to sign this legislation is "far from Europe, as a huge step has been made in the opposite direction."

Ukraine can "forget about integration into Europe," as "Hungary will be blocking any initiatives that benefit Ukraine in international organizations, especially in the EU," Szijjarto said.

It had been reported earlier that on September 25, Poroshenko signed the law on education passed by the Verkhovna Rada on September 5.

The law stipulates that the language of education in Ukrainian educational institutions is the official language, Ukrainian; at the same time, it also says that depending on the curriculum, one or several disciplines could be taught in two or more languages, i.e. in Ukrainian and in English or other official languages of the European Union.

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