The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Romanian Senate has adopted a resolution calling on the authorities in Kyiv to fully respect the rights of Ukraine’s Romanian minority during the country’s accession negotiations with the European Union. The document was made public on February 23, Monday by Titus Corlățean, the committee’s chairman, who emphasized that the Romanian Parliament will continue to closely monitor developments in the matter.

According to the unanimously adopted resolution, as a candidate country Ukraine must ensure compliance with the political criteria for accession, an integral part of which is the protection of national minority rights. The Romanian Foreign Affairs Committee emphasized that the authorities in Kyiv must guarantee the preservation of the national identity of Romanians living in the country, in line with European norms and international agreements. The document specifically refers to the minority protection standards of the Council of Europe, including the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. These standards must ensure genuine guarantees for mother-tongue education and freedom of religion for the Romanian community in Ukraine.

Titus Corlățean underlined that the Romanian Parliament is “vigilantly monitoring” developments and will issue a public statement at the appropriate time, based on a full understanding of the facts. All Romanian parliamentary parties supported the resolution and unanimously called on the Romanian government to fulfill its duty to protect the rights of Romanian communities abroad.

The issue returned to the spotlight after in a recent Strasbourg speech Corlățean accused Kyiv of gradually dismantling the Romanian-language school network. The politician referred to an enrollment decision adopted in October 2025 by the Chernivtsi Regional Council for the 2026 academic year, which foreshadows only four independent Romanian-language high schools remaining of the current 32. Although the document also mentions nine mixed secondary schools, the Romanian politician warned that there is a risk the Ukrainian majority schools will eventually absorb the Romanian-language classes.

The former foreign minister also recalled that, Ukraine’s policy of restricting mother-tongue education is not a new phenomenon and has intensified since the outbreak of the war, creating the impression that the Russian–Ukrainian conflict has negatively affected other minorities as well.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Embassy in Bucharest stated in a communiqué on Monday that no Romanian or partially Romanian-language schools would be closed in 2027, emphasizing that Ukraine respects minority rights. However, it side-stepped the gradual decline of Romanian-language education issue.

Source: Kronika.ro

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