CoE: Minority representation, participation 'exemplary' in Hungary

The representation and participation of national minorities in Hungary is "exemplary", including parliament, and the protection of their languages enjoys a high level of political support, an expert committee of the Council of Europe said in a report released in Strasbourg on Thursday. Hungary has made considerable improvement in bilingual and multilingual education opportunities and the positive trend has continued, the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages said. The committee, however, said that there is a need to "further extend" the use of Croatian, German, Romanian, Serbian, Slovakian and Slovenian as a medium of instruction to better serve the needs of these minorities. This implies that more teachers should be trained to teach subjects in these languages, the body added. It proposed that Hungary should develop a long-term strategy for the promotion of each minority language.