Romanian Senate limits education rights of ethnic minorities

Members of the upper house of the Romanian parliament have approved a draft law limiting the rights of ethnic minorities to education in their mother tongue.

History and geography will be taught only in Romanian, and there will also be new limits on how long students from ethnic minorities are allowed to study the Romanian language.

When discussion of the bill began last week politicians representing the large Hungarian minority withdrew cooperation with its partners in the Romanian government coalition.

Correspondents say ethnic Hungarian senators have now dropped their opposition to the bill in the hope that it will be rejected by the lower house.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service