Hungary welcomed the submission to the Verkhovna Rada of a bill on the educational rights of national minorities and expects it to be adopted as early as October. Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orban said this on October 2 on social media, UNN writes.
Details
"Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Vsevolod Chentsov personally informed me that a bill on the educational rights of national minorities would be submitted to the Ukrainian parliament. We welcome this step, which was preceded by bilateral Hungarian-Ukrainian professional consultations and consultations with representatives of the Hungarian community of Zakarpattia over the past few weeks," Orban wrote.
She noted that the adoption of the bill "could strengthen the legal guarantees of education in the Hungarian native language and the network of educational institutions."
"The Ukrainian parliament is expected to make a decision on the bill in October," Orban noted.
According to her, Hungary "remains interested in dialogue and tangible results in the everyday life of the Hungarian community of Zakarpattia."
"We are pleased that in a few months we have achieved greater and more tangible results in strengthening the rights of the Hungarian minority in Zakarpattia than the Orban government achieved in 10 years," the Hungarian foreign minister emphasized.
Bill on national minorities already in parliament — what it provides for
The draft law on amendments to certain laws of Ukraine concerning ensuring the educational rights of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine and persons belonging to national minorities (communities) of Ukraine was registered in parliament under No. 16119 on October 1, 2026.
As stated in the explanatory note, the bill provides for clarification of legislative provisions concerning the use of the languages of national minorities (communities) of Ukraine that are official languages of the European Union, and the languages of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine in the educational process alongside the state language. In particular, it is proposed to allow the relevant languages to be used not only directly in the educational process, but also in other forms of communication between education seekers and other participants in the educational process on the premises and grounds of an educational institution.
In order to create appropriate conditions for the functioning of educational institutions where instruction is provided in the languages of national minorities (communities) of Ukraine and the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, the bill provides for the possibility of granting general secondary education institutions an appropriate status. Such status makes it possible to take into account the linguistic, cultural, and educational needs of education seekers and their families.
Certain provisions of the bill are aimed at ensuring the possibility of taking into account the cultural and linguistic identity of the relevant communities in educational programs, in particular by providing for the study of national history, the preservation of material and spiritual culture, national traditions, symbols and customs.
The draft law also provides for improving guarantees of access to education in the event of the reorganization or liquidation of a general secondary education institution with the status of a general secondary education institution of a national minority (community) of Ukraine or a general secondary education institution of an indigenous people of Ukraine. In particular, upon the application of a student's parents, the possibility of continuing to obtain education at the relevant level in another educational institution with the corresponding status, where instruction is provided in the language of the relevant national minority (community) of Ukraine or indigenous people of Ukraine, is to be guaranteed.