Ekaterina Zaharieva: Bulgarians in Ukraine have a guaranteed right to learn their mother tongue
19 April 2019 News
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva confirmed from the rostrum of the National Assembly our support for ethnic Bulgarians in Ukraine, the largest Bulgarian expat community numbering 250,000.
‘To date, they have a guaranteed right to learn their mother tongue. We look forward to the inauguration of a new school, per the agreement reached between Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and the Ukrainian President in Odessa. Whether that school is set to deliver an expanded Bulgarian language curriculum, or will operate as a private Bulgarian institution, is yet to be determined,’ said Minister Zaharieva.
In reply to a question from Dzhema Grozdanova MP, the chairperson of the Foreign Policy Committee, about the steps undertaken by MFA to assert the right of ethnic Bulgarians in Ukraine to learn their mother tongue, Minister Zaharieva noted that changes in the Ukrainian legislation make it possible to broaden the possibilities for learning Bulgarian in that country.
She went on to say that at present, Bulgarian is being learned as mother tongue in 42 state-run educational institutions in Ukraine. Parallel to that, Ukraine boasts an extremely well developed network of 75 Bulgarian Sunday schools.
The Deputy Prime Minister underscored that the Bulgarian authorities keep a close eye on the situation with ethnic Bulgarians in Ukraine in terms of their right to learn their mother tongue, an issue that has been raised at different levels. It was also discussed during the political consultations between the ministries of foreign affairs at deputy-ministerial level, held in Kiev in late March. The Minister also recalled that the Ukrainian government had provided its assurances that the new law would not prevent people from learning their mother tongue by signing a special declaration between the ministries of education of the two countries. In May, the parties are also set to sign a protocol to that declaration.
‘We keep bringing up the matter and we follow it closely. The right to learn the mother tongue will be even more fully guaranteed once the protocol between the ministries of education gets signed,’ said Ekaterina Zaharieva.
She expressed hope, and called on all parties concerned to make sure, that the administrative territorial reform in Ukraine would not result in further partitioning of the Bulgarian ethnic community. This is a matter that is being brought up all the time by the Bulgarian side, including at the meeting between the Bulgarian Prime Minister and the Ukrainian President, and the meetings between the two countries’ foreign ministers.
‘We have verbal guarantees than nothing like this is going to happen. But I think we should watch the matter very closely. While each country is entitled to pursue its own administrative reform, it should not be of such a nature as to tear the Bulgarian minority apart. I hope that, with joint efforts, the forthcoming reform will not diminish the extent of representation of the Bulgarian community to the regional legislatures and the national parliament of Ukraine,’ said Minister Zaharieva and thanked all parliamentary factions for their support on the matter.