Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada adopted amendments to the education law on Monday, October 12, allowing students in schools serving national minorities to study in their native languages alongside Ukrainian. The new provisions also cover Romanian- and Hungarian-language schools and could grant special status to 149 educational institutions.
Draft Law No. 16119 was approved in both readings and in its entirety. A total of 273 lawmakers voted in favor during the first reading, while 266 supported the bill in the final vote, Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak announced. He added that the document had been urgently sent to the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada for signature before being forwarded to the President of Ukraine.
The amendments allow students in schools serving national minorities to study in their respective languages while also learning Ukrainian. They also allow students to communicate freely in those languages within educational institutions. The changes do not apply to Russian, as Russian speakers are not recognized in this context as a national minority eligible for these provisions.
The adoption of the law also has implications for Ukraine’s European integration. The amendments are needed to secure Hungary’s agreement to opening Clusters Two and Three in Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations. Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orbán had previously expressed her expectation that the Ukrainian Parliament would adopt legislative changes concerning the rights of national minorities.
Also on Monday, the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU member states (Coreper) expressed its readiness to agree on the EU’s negotiating positions for opening the two clusters following the adoption of the education law amendments.
The draft law was registered with the Verkhovna Rada on October 1, with the aim of helping overcome Hungary’s veto and unblock Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations.