European rights watchdog raps Ukraine's language law

A European rights watchdog ruled on Friday that Ukraine's new law requiring state schools teach older children almost entirely in Ukrainian might be discriminatory.

The explosive legislation has poisoned Ukraine's ties with neighbours Romania and Hungary in particular -- which both have sizable minorities in Ukraine.

Much of Ukraine's southeast is Russian-speaking so the rule has also further inflamed relations with Moscow as a nearly four-year war against Kremlin-backed insurgents rumbles on in the east.

Ukraine currently has hundreds of schools that provide lessons to ethnic minority communities in their own languages.

Kiev tried to soothe the tensions by submitting the law for review by the Venice Commission -- a Council of Europe group of constitutional law experts whose rulings member states commit to respect.

The commission said in a formal opinion on Friday that "the strong domestic and international criticism drawn especially by the provisions reducing the scope of education in minority languages seems justified".