In a joint statement, the Subcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association and the Hungarian Democratic Association of Ukraine criticize the new law on the national communities of Ukraine. The minorities made several proposals, but none of them was accepted by the Kyiv leadership.
The constructive proposals made earlier by Hungarian and other minority organizations were completely ignored in the Kyiv parliament - the Subcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (KMKSZ) and the Hungarian Democratic Association of Ukraine (UMDSZ) announced in a joint statement yesterday. As it was written, the new legislation not only confirms the restrictions previously codified in the Education and Language Act, but also introduces new ones, since it does not guarantee the preservation of compact nationality settlement areas, nor the use of nationality symbols.
According to the joint declaration, minority rights are interpreted exclusively as rights that can be exercised individually by persons belonging to minorities, thus depriving them (their communities, organizations) of the exercise of political, educational, and linguistic rights that can be exercised institutionally, and thus also the possibility of influencing their own destiny.
According to two authoritative interest protection organizations of Transcarpathian Hungarians, the law in its current form is not suitable to serve as a suitable instrument in Ukraine's legislation for the implementation of the provisions of the constitution and the country's international legal obligations regarding the protection of the rights of national minorities. The law does not provide adequate institutional foundations and legal mechanisms for the enforcement and protection of the rights of national minorities - concludes the statement of the KMKSZ and the UMDSZ.
The draft law on the national communities of Ukraine was finally adopted by the 450-member Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday with 324 yes votes.
Source: Magyar Hírlap
Photo: MH/Róbert Hegedüs
