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Ukraine’s law on education undercuts legal norms of any state, official says

Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Moldova, and Poland have also expressed concern over the new law

MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/. Ukraine’s law on education undercuts legal norms of a multiethnic state and the international reaction to it should be tough and instantaneous, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told TASS on Tuesday.

"No doubt, this [law] is an outrageous act of disrespect for the reality of today’s world," he said.

"Apart from encroaching on Ukraine’s international obligations, it humiliates the people of many nationalities who live there."

Kiev is conscientiously violating the foundations of a multiethnic state and whipping up neo-Nazi sentiments, Karasin continued.

"I’m confident Europe and the rest of the world should offer a tough and instantaneous reaction," he said.

On Monday, President Pyotr Poroshenko of Ukraine signed a law on education that says instruction in the languages of ethnic minorities will be restricted to the elementary school as of 2018 while all the subjects in the middle school and high school will be taught exclusively in the Ukrainian language.

Education at universities will also switch over to Ukrainian.

Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Moldova, and Poland have expressed concern over the new law. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis cancelled a visit to Ukraine that he was expected to make in October while Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Budapest would block any step at the EU level, which could take Ukraine closer to accession to the EU.