The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a position regarding a case in Ukraine, in which a Romanian language class for first-graders in a Ukrainian village was canceled, Romanian media reported, quoted by BTA.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated last night that it is closely monitoring the observance of the rights of persons belonging to the Romanian minority in Ukraine, including through the mechanisms provided for in the Action Plan for the Protection of National Minorities as part of the process of Ukraine's accession to the European Union, Agerpres reported.
The ministry recalled that compliance with European standards in the field of minority protection is a commitment that Ukraine has made within the framework of the accession negotiations.
The reason for the reaction is the case with first grade with teaching in Romanian in the village of Orlivka (Kartal – old name), in the Izmail district of the Odessa region.
According to information published on the local website BukPress, the children's parents submitted applications for enrollment in first grade with Romanian as early as May this year. According to the local community, during the summer, the parents were repeatedly invited to change the applications in favor of teaching in Ukrainian. The parents did not change their decision and on September 1, the school year began. However, on September 4, they were summoned and, according to local reports, were asked to transfer the children to a Ukrainian-language class.
According to a local Romanian organization, the Ukrainian authorities cited the educational reform in terminating the class, but so far, Ukrainian institutions have not published an official explanation for the decision.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry indicated that it had taken action in both Bucharest and Kiev to clarify the case and find a solution that would allow the continuation of Romanian-language education, reports the Agerpres agency.
„The opening of the relevant class was carried out as a result of the actions of the Consulate General of Romania in Odessa before the Ukrainian authorities, based on specific requests to this effect from the local Romanian community. At the same time, the Consulate General of Romania in Odessa immediately contacted the competent local and regional authorities and will make a second on-site visit on September 18 to discuss the situation with all stakeholders“, a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, quoted by Agerpres, states.
The ministry points out that this summer and in September Romanian consular teams visited several communities in the region for direct dialogue with representatives of the Romanian community and with local authorities.
“The issue of education in Romanian has always been a priority in the bilateral Romanian-Ukrainian dialogue, including at a high level“, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs states.
Current Ukrainian legislation allows representatives of national minorities to be taught in their mother tongue, alongside Ukrainian, at the initial stage of education.
In 2017, Ukraine adopted a law that restricted the teaching of minority languages in schools in Ukraine. The law was criticized by Romania and other European countries. According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, 151,000 people identified themselves as Romanians and 258,600 as Moldovans.