This time Hungary and the Hungarians are under scrutiny in Vikerradio’s program series “Harri Tiido’s Background Stories”. Evil tongues whisper that Viktor Orbán hopes to make Transcarpathia part of his country again in exchange for merits in the event of Russia’s victory, notes Tiido.
At the European Union summit held at the end of last year, the issue of Ukraine was once again a source of controversy. Overall, 26 countries plus Hungary faced each other. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán made a concession, allowing him to approve the start of accession negotiations with Ukraine.
Considering that Orbán probably represents the Kremlin’s interests in many respects, this is a small concession in strategic terms. After all, Moscow’s goal is to prevent Ukraine from moving closer to the rest of Europe. Although in the subsequent trial Hungary still has the chance to torpedo him, according to various calculations, with 70-75 votes or decisions. Perhaps the price of this concession was the decision to release ten billion euros frozen in Brussels for Budapest.
On Moscow’s tactical issue, relating to the allocation of funds for Ukraine, Orbán has not given up. For Moscow it is important that aid from the West does not reach Kiev and that it is forced to give up, even if only for economic reasons. Then the topic of the European Union will also be abandoned. This monetary issue was declared solvable without Hungary if necessary, but that’s all.
Some time ago Orbán justified his anger by saying that the Hungarian minority was discriminated against in Ukraine, but the Ukrainian parliament approved and the president approved a new law on minority rights, which respected the requirements of the Council of Europe and, more specifically, the Venice Commission.
While in the past education in Hungarian could extend until the fifth grade, it is now possible to study in Hungarian until the end of high school. The only exceptions are subjects such as Ukrainian language, literature and history, which remain in Ukrainian. An exception was also Russian language schools, to which the rights of minority languages do not extend. For the rest, the legislative changes have led to the modification of a whole series of legal acts concerning the rights of minorities.
Subsequently, Orbán changed his rhetoric and stated that money cannot be given to Ukraine, as it is the most corrupt country in the world. In other words, bullying against minorities had disappeared somewhere, because its basis had disappeared. The change in rhetoric confirmed that it was just a pretext. Ukraine is actually ranked 116th out of 180 according to Transparency International 2022, but the trend is upwards. By the way, Hungary itself is in 77th place, at the bottom of the list of European Union countries and trending downwards.
Well, Hungarians will not disappear from Ukraine. If we speak in the language of numbers, in 1910 there were 183,000 Hungarians, or 30% of the population of Transcarpathia, now part of Ukraine. According to the 2001 census there were 151,000, or approximately 12% of the population. In 2017, a study showed that there were 131,000 left, now, if you take into account the war and the possibilities of movement, there are around 80,000 left, although it is said that it could be more.
It should be borne in mind that Hungary has been kindly sharing its citizenship with its compatriots for years, although dual citizenship is not provided for in Ukrainian laws. In any case, most Hungarians in Ukraine have had and still have the possibility to move freely within the European Union with a Hungarian passport.
Looking at history, we see that this region was part of Hungary until 1918. Then, with the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Transcarpathia was merged with the newly formed Czechoslovakia. The decision was confirmed in 1920 with the Treaty of Trianon.
At the beginning of the Second World War, Hungary, Hitler’s ally, occupied these areas again. At the end of the war, units of the Soviet Union arrived as conquerors and decided not to leave the region to Hungary, but not to return it to Czechoslovakia either. Transcarpathia was kept for itself and was later incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR, but after its independence, Transcarpathia became part of independent Ukraine.
Journalists who have been there expressed mixed opinions about the mood of the locals. It probably all depends on who you end up talking to.
Some Hungarians say the war is none of their business, but rather support Hungary’s position that peace must be concluded.
“In fact, hundreds of ethnic Hungarians have been at the front or are currently there fighting for Ukraine.”
Others argue that for them Orbán is not an authority, they have lived in this area for a thousand years and are now Ukrainian citizens. But for them Russia is an enemy. Furthermore, they want the Hungarian Prime Minister not to take responsibility for representing their interests, because they do not need such protection. And in fact hundreds of ethnic Hungarians have been or are currently there fighting for Ukraine.
Hungary has, according to some observers, some phantom pains of empire. Recall that Viktor Orbán appeared before the cameras with both a t-shirt and a scarf with the image of the former Great Hungary. Evil tongues whisper that Orbán hopes to have Transcarpathia back as part of his country in exchange for favors in the event of Russia’s victory. Recently, talking to a Hungarian diplomat, he swore that they have no interest in this area, Hungarians are only 10% and why consider the rest of the group as part of Hungary… But a diplomat is there to protect the interests of his government.
In itself, this area was and is quite diverse in terms of population. In addition to Hungarians, Romanians, Ruthenians also live there and historically there have also been Germans, Jews and perhaps representatives of other nationalities. When it comes to paying attention to its fellow countrymen, only Hungary stands out.
According to a journalistic study, between 2011 and 2020, Hungary allocated 115 million euros to Transcarpathia, which is one and a half times the region’s annual budget. But especially after the onset of full-scale Russian aggression, large numbers of Hungarians in the region distanced themselves from Orbán’s war vision. According to last year’s poll, 2/3 of those interviewed in Donbas were of the opinion that Hungary should support Ukraine with weapons in the war against Russia.
So Orbán still has a lot to contribute in this area, if he does not limit himself to relying exclusively on Russian military success.
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2024-01-02 11:59:00
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