Ukraine adopts law key to advancing EU accession talks

Ukraine on Monday passed legislation protecting the rights of national minorities, in a move expected to remove a major stumbling block to the country's EU ambitions.

Hungary had been blocking the opening of so-called negotiation "clusters" -- policy areas with which EU candidates must align their laws -- accusing Kyiv of failing to protect the rights of Ukraine's Hungarian minority. Kyiv's parliament voted Monday to pass the legislation, which President Zelensky then signed into law, his office said.

"A Ukrainian law has been passed that ensures the rights of national minorities without compromising the status of the Ukrainian language," the parliamentary press service said. The law, it added, would "expand opportunities for the use of the languages of national minorities of Ukraine that are official languages of the European Union" in the educational system.