Minister of Education of Ukraine Liliya Grinevich at a government meeting commented on Budapest's demands for additional language concessions to the Hungarian minority.
According to European truth, Grinevich accused the Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Siyarto of spreading manipulative statements.
In particular, Siyarto put forward a condition for stopping the blocking of cooperation between Ukraine and NATO by Budapest.
According to Siyarto, to abolish the Hungarian veto, Ukraine must comply with all the requirements of the Venice Commission and abstain from implementing the Law on Education until it comes to an agreement with national minorities, including the Hungarian.
Grinevich said that the MES has already begun implementation of the decision of the Venice Commission to bring the law "On Education" in line with the norms of the Council of Europe. But the Hungarian side, according to her, requires additional concessions from Kiev.
"The manipulation and blackmail on the part of Hungary, which blocks the meetings of the Ukraine-NATO Commission, is that we are forced to stop the implementation of the law. This is not in the recommendations of the Venice Commission, "she said..
Grinevich added that the Hungarian minority refused to consult on the language of education, which were scheduled for February 14.
In turn, Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman said that Ukraine will always ensure the rights of national minorities, but the priority number one will be the development of the Ukrainian language.
"This is not a discussion issue. We do not perceive and will never perceive any aggression and pressure, "Groysman said..
After this discussion, the government approved a bill on the implementation of one of the recommendations of the Venice Commission - the extension of the period for entering the language norm for three years, until 2023.
At the same time, Grinevich noted that it is not a question of refusing to comply with the norms of the law on the transfer of instruction to the Ukrainian language.
Previously, Hungary used the right of veto and blocked the meeting of the Ukraine-NATO commission, which was to be held on February 14 or 15. Because of the position of Budapest, his visit to NATO Headquarters in Brussels was canceled by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak.
Budapest took a tough stance on the Ukrainian education reform, which in its view, violates the rights of the Hungarian minority to receive education in Hungarian.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Siyarto said that Budapest would block further rapprochement between Ukraine and the EU, as well as NATO cooperation. The blocking will be carried out until the moment when Ukraine abolishes certain norms of educational reform.
According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the recommendations of the Venice Commission have a possible solution to the Ukrainian-Hungarian conflict over the language article.