1956 – Transcarpathia Hungarians deserve special respect, says justice minister

It was Trancarpathia’s Hungarians who were most isolated from Hungary during the Soviet times, “and we owe them respect for preserving their self-identity and mother tongue under rather difficult circumstances”, the Hungarian justice minister said in Uzhhorod/Ungvár, in western Ukraine, on Monday.

László Trócsányi addressed a gathering in the local theatre that marked the 61st anniversary of Hungary’s ill-fated anti-Soviet uprising.

In 1956, Transcarpathia/Kárpátalja and Uzhhorod/Ungvár itself formed part of a country whose troops brought down the Hungarian revolution, he said.

Although today’s Transcarpathia region has belonged to various different states over the course of its history, its population has remained the same, the minister noted.

Speaking in the context of the endurance and thriving of Transcarpathia’s Hungarian community, Trócsányi emphasised the importance of the community’s right to education in their mother tongue without restriction.

“We firmly stand up for the Hungarian community’s right to the use of their language in education as has been enshrined in international treaties,” he said, making reference to the recently adopted Ukrainian education law.

Trócsányi earlier in the day met Hennadiy Moskal, governor of the Transcarpathia region, to discuss the contested new Ukrainian law.

He told MTI that he pointed out to Moskal that the new law violated several international accords ratified by Ukraine.

Trócsányi said he thanked the governor for supporting the Hungarian community.

During his visit, the minister laid a wreath at the city’s 1956 memorial.

Source: MTI