Representatives of the Council of Europe and the EU are conducting a monitoring visit to Zakarpattia region on the rights of national minorities, assessing access to education in particular, the acting head of the Zakarpattia RMA said on Tuesday . Myroslav Biletsky in Telegram, UNN reports.
Representatives of the Council of Europe, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, and MPs are on a monitoring visit to Zakarpattia. Their goal is to assess the situation, the needs of national minorities, including Roma, and access to quality education in the languages of national communities
According to him, during the meeting with the delegation, they discussed topical issues together with representatives of various national minorities of Transcarpathia.
"It should be noted that the situation in the field of interethnic relations in the region is stable and controlled. (...) This visit is important because it allows us to objectively analyze the effectiveness of the implementation of the Law of Ukraine "On National Minorities (Communities) of Ukraine", the Strategy for Promoting the Realization of Rights and Opportunities of Persons Belonging to the Roma National Minority in Ukrainian Society for the Period up to 2030, and the State Target Program "Unity in Diversity" for the Period up to 2034. At the same time, ensuring human rights, including those of representatives of national minorities, is one of the conditions for Ukraine's accession to the EU," Biletsky said.
According to him, the delegation will hold a number of meetings in different parts of Zakarpattia, visit educational institutions where minorities study, places of compact Roma residence, etc. "We are waiting for the results of the monitoring to be taken into account in the future," Biletsky said.
For reference
According to information from open sources, representatives of more than 100 nationalities live in Zakarpattia region. According to the 2001 census, there were 1010.1 thousand Ukrainians (80.5 percent), 151.5 thousand Hungarians (12.1 percent), 32.1 thousand Romanians (2.6 percent), 31.0 thousand Russians (2.5 percent), 14.0 thousand Roma (1.1 percent), 5.6 thousand Slovaks (0.5 percent), 3.5 thousand Germans (0.3 percent), as well as 1540 Belarusians, 565 Jews, 518 Poles, 490 Armenians and others.