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State Secretary Dr. Jenő Faller of the Foreign Ministry summoned Ukrainian Ambassador to Hungary Dmitro Tkach to his office on November 13, 2009, and requested information about news that the Ukrainian education ministry has not ordered Hungarian-language textbooks for around one hundred Hungarian schools in TransCarpathia for the 2010-2011 school year. This would mean that the tenth graders of the affected schools will be without Hungarian-language books next year.

The Foreign Ministry judges that this move is the consequence of the Decree No. 461/2008 of the Ukrainian Education Ministry which Hungary has criticised on several occasions because, in our view, it intends to introduce the gradual transformation of minority educational institutions into majority ones, teaching in Ukrainian.

The State Secretary pointed out that these measures contravene the commitments Ukraine has undertaken at bilateral and multilateral levels. Besides, these are not conversant with the broad consensus accepted in the European Union with regard to the fundamental protection of minority rights; they trigger such processes which endanger the identity of the Trans-Carpathian Hungarian community.

Dr. Faller requested that the Ukrainian government take steps in connection with the textbook problem in the interest of a solution forthwith; furthermore, he once again urged the Education Ministry to review its decree.