The Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and International Relations Valeriy Patskan met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Hungary to Ukraine Michael Baer
25 February 2013, 16:28
Valeriy Patskan informed Michael Baer on the main issues that are subject to the jurisdiction of the Committee. In particular: observance of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, ethno-national politics, international relations, the rights of indigenous peoples and national minorities in Ukraine, citizenship status of foreigners and stateless persons, immigration, refugees and asylum in Ukraine, providing links with Ukrainians abroad etc.
The Chairman noted also that the Committee, in accordance with its tasks, actively cooperates with many international institutions.
M.Bayer noted that the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, unlike most other minorities, has a compact settlement and lives mostly in Transcarpathia. According to him, there are about 156 000 Hungarians in Ukraine today, representing 0.4% of the total population of the state.
Among the major problems of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, M.Baer drew attention to the lack of opportunities for learning Ukrainian language, due to the compact settlement of Hungarians in Ukraine.
V.Patskan drew attention also to the issue of minority rights in Transcarpathia that will be considered during the visiting session of the Committee in May this year, and proposed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to join this event.
During the meeting, the Parties discussed priorities of modern ethno-national policy, aiming both at formation of civic society, where all ethnic groups harmoniously develop, and at the possibility of cooperation at the level of parliamentary committees and deputy’s groups for inter-parliamentary relations, that will contribute to solving current issues of Ukrainian and Hungarian cooperation.