Hungary threatens to boycott EU actions on Ukraine

BRUSSELS – Hungary says it will “block and boycott” all attempts to draw Ukraine more deeply into the European Union unless Kyiv changes a new education law that rolls back options for schools to teach lessons in languages other than Ukrainian.

Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Szijjarto said after a meeting with EU counterparts on Monday that he “made it very clear that until this law changes, we will block and boycott all initiatives made by Ukraine, and all initiatives which are important for Ukraine.”

Ukraine has some 150,000 ethnic Hungarians and many Hungarian schools.

The education law passed last month specifies that Ukrainian will be the main language used in schools.

Szijjarto said Budapest will also block any conclusions at an upcoming EU-Eastern Partnership summit next month.