MOSCOW, September 15 (RAPSI) – Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Hungary have asked Ukraine to prevent introduction of restrictions on educational languages in the country proposed by a bill already passed by the parliament in the second reading, statement on the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry’s website reads on Friday.

Foreign ministers of these countries have signed a letter to their Ukrainian colleague Pavel Klimkin as well as Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Lamberto Zannier. Ministers expressed concerns regarding the bill restricting national minorities from being able to be educated in their native languages.

According to the bill, residents of the country with non-Ukrainian native language may be educated in that language only until school’s fifth grade. Further grades, as well as professional and higher education courses, are to be taught in a state language.