Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban on Friday said a Supreme Court ruling awarding damages to schoolchildren from the Roma minority who were put in separate classes was unfair and pledged to change the law to prevent any future such decisions.
Orban, who has gradually assumed control over many aspects of life in post-communist Hungary, sparked protests in Budapest when he hinted in January that the state should disobey any order to pay restitution to the Roma, and train them instead.
The case concerns an elementary school in Gyongyospata, an eastern town that has been a flashpoint of ethnic tensions. The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that it had given substandard education to the Roma children after confining them to the ground floor.
It ordered the school district and the town to pay the students a combined $310,000 (254,182 pounds) in damages, confirming a finding by ombundsman for the minority, who reported in 2011 that the Roma had been segregated for years.
