Bucharest condemns limitation of rights for Romanian ethnics in Ukraine
The Parliament of Romania calls on neighbouring Ukraine to revise its new Education Law
Bogdan Matei, 21.09.2017, 13:49
A unanimous vote in the Parliament of Romania is a rare occurrence. One such example was this Wednesday, when all the MPs attending a joint meeting of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, without exception, endorsed a declaration expressing their disagreement with a new bill on education in neighbouring Ukraine.
The controversial draft law, which only needs the signature of President Petro Poroshenko to take effect, drastically restricts the access to education for many ethnic minorities in that country. Under the bill, all high school and university classes are to be taught in Ukrainian, and mother tongue tuition is only allowed in kindergartens and primary education.
Romanian MPs say they are monitoring these developments “with concern and the utmost attention, and call for prompt measures taken in good faith, in the spirit of cooperation and in strict compliance with the European standards in the field of national minority protection and with the relevant bilateral and multilateral agreements to which Ukraine is a party.
The Parliament of Romania also wants proper protection of the linguistic, cultural and linguistic identity of the nearly half a million Romanian ethnics in the neighbouring country, most of them living in the territories annexed by the former Soviet Union under a 1940 ultimatum and taken over by Ukraine as a successor state.
From the parliamentary majority, the Social Democratic Senator Titus Corlatean, a former foreign minister, says the way in which Ukraines Education Law is being modified is a major step back in Kievs European and democratic endeavour.
Deputy Attila Korodi, from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, also believes Ukraine is backing away from the fundamental principles of democracy, the rule of law and human rights guarantees. In turn, Senator Ion Hadarca from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania warns that the Romanian ethnics in Ukraine risk losing their cultural identity.
In the Opposition, the former president of the National Liberal Party Alina Gorghiu calls on the Government of Romania to find solutions to work with Kiev on the matter, and suggests that Romania should cover the costs of textbooks and teacher salaries for the Romanian children in Ukraine.
According to Deputy Constantin Codreanu, a member of the Peoples Movement Party, Bucharest should demand that Ukraine reciprocate Romanias protection of ethnic minority rights. Also in the Opposition, Save Romania Party member Matei Dobrovie says that, since the annexation of Crimea, Ukraines squabbles with its neighbours have given Russia further pretexts to strengthen its military presence at the Black Sea.
(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)
