The Verkhovna Rada supported the bill on teaching in the languages of national minorities and indigenous peoples. It is important on the path to the EU

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the first reading and as a whole draft law No. 16119 on teaching in the languages of national minorities and indigenous peoples.

This was reported by the press service of the parliament.

The law expands opportunities to study in the languages of national minorities, which are official languages of the EU, and in the languages of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine. It also provides for the consideration of their history, culture, and traditions in educational programs, and in the event of school closure or reorganization, the opportunity to continue education in the appropriate language.

The law should help combine the proper level of proficiency in the Ukrainian language with the preservation of the linguistic and cultural identity of national minorities and indigenous peoples of Ukraine.

Hungary demanded the adoption of this law — in return, the country promised to support the opening of two negotiation clusters on Ukraineʼs accession to the EU. It is expected that positions on the opening of the clusters should be agreed today, and formally opened tomorrow.

What are Ukraineʼs successes on its path to the EU?

Ukraine intensified cooperation with the EU in 2014, after the victory of the Revolution of Dignity. In the same year, the Verkhovna Rada and the European Parliament simultaneously approved the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. It entered into full force on September 1, 2017. Ukraineʼs path to membership in the European Union and NATO was enshrined in the Constitution in February 2019.

On February 28, 2022, Ukraine applied for membership in the European Union. On June 17, the European Commission recommended granting Ukraine candidate status for EU membership and set out a number of conditions that the country must meet before starting negotiations on EU membership. On June 23, EU leaders gathered in Brussels for a summit, where they granted Ukraine candidate status.

At the end of 2023, the European Union allowed negotiations to begin. They were formally launched in 2024, but the process slowed down, in particular due to the position of then-Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who blocked the opening of negotiation clusters.

After a change of government in Hungary, the country lifted its 17-month veto on Ukraineʼs accession to the EU in June 2026. However, within weeks, Hungary threatened to stop Ukraineʼs accession to the EU if Kyiv did not implement an agreement on the rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia.

Now two clusters have been opened for Ukraine — "Fundamentals" and "Foreign Relations".

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