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The Parliamentary State Secretary at the Ministry of EU Affairs called on Ukraine to comply with European standards in Budapest on Tuesday. He also asked the country to follow the recommendations of the Council of Europe and the Venice Commission, and to restore the legal framework that protects the Hungarian language and the Hungarian national community.
Speaking at a press conference on the occasion of the European Day of Languages, Barna Pál Zsigmond said that Hungary’s national government is paying special attention to the protection of our mother tongue, and in addition to preserving the Hungarian language, our country also ensures the language use of the national communities and minorities living with us.
However, our joy cannot be cloudless, as Hungarians living in the Carpathian Basin and beyond the borders have to fight every day to use their mother tongue,”
the State Secretary added.
Regarding the elections held in Slovakia over the weekend, Zsigmond commented that it is important that as many minority Hungarians as possible take part in the crucial elections, because this election is also about further guarantees for the use of the Hungarian language.
“If many Hungarians take part in the elections and the Hungarian party is elected to the Slovak Parliament, new opportunities will open up for the use of the Hungarian language,” the State Secretary added.
He said that
the situation in Ukraine is sad, where the use of the Hungarian language is constantly being restricted, and in the shadow of the terrible war, the Hungarian language is also being targeted, as the changes to the education law and the language law demonstrate.
We hope that Ukraine will sooner or later return to the path it has been on, restore the rights of the Hungarian community, and allow the Hungarian language to be used freely in education, culture, and public life again. Ukraine has indicated that it would like to become a member of the European Union and has been granted candidate status, but this is only possible on the condition that it respects the rights of national minorities, Zsigmond stressed.
It is particularly disturbing that while Hungary is helping the Ukrainian people in the largest humanitarian operation in its history, this unprecedented attack on the Hungarian language is taking place in the meantime,”
he added.
Zsigmond described it as incomprehensible why the 150,000 minority Hungarians were being targeted when Hungarians from Transcarpathia (Ukraine) were fighting the Russians on the Russian-Ukrainian front alongside Ukrainians.
Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/KMKSZ – Kárpátaljai Magyar Kulturális Szövetség
