Breaking – anti-Hungarian attack in Croatia?

On Sunday, unknown perpetrators damaged and brought down the statue of one of the greatest Hungarian poets, Sándor Petőfi, in Haraszti, Eastern Slavonia, Croatia. Péter Szenn, the bishop of the Calvinist Church in Croatia, said that it is the only statue of Petőfi in the country.

According to 444.hu, the bronze statue of the Hungarian poet is the artwork of László Hunyadi, a sculptor living in Marosvásárhely, Romania. Petőfi’s only Croatian statue was erected in 2014 following the initiative of the Calvinist Church, from public donations, in Haraszti. 

The local Hungarian bishop said that

they do not know whether non-ferrous metal thieves wanted to steal the statue or it was an anti-Hungarian act,

but public outcry is significant in the village. He added that they called upon the police to find the perpetrators as soon as possible.

As we reported before, in Ukraine,

anti-Hungarian acts and measures happen almost every day.

For example, it seems that the country’s parliament will ban the Hungarian national anthem and flag.

Kyiv is to accept a bill which would regulate the use of different state symbols, including national flags and anthems. If accepted, the Hungarian flag could not be placed on public buildings, and representatives would be allowed to sing only the Ukrainian national anthem when they start and finish their sessions. Ukraine would like to become a member of the European Union and NATO, which Hungary vetoes as long as the country’s ethnic policy does not change. It seems, however, that the administration of

Volodymyr Zelensky remains on the track of former president Petro Poroshenko in this respect.

The document has many supporters in war-torn Ukraine where the coronavirus is spreading unstoppably. The “patriots” say that such bills serve Ukraine’s interests. However, politic.karpat.in.ua says that if the bill was accepted, it would provoke conflicts with a lot of the country’s neighbours, starting with Hungary. The website adds that

the “problem” with the Hungarian flags is not new in Transcarpathia,

a Western county of Ukraine populated by – among others – almost 150 thousand Hungarians. Ethnic Ukrainians coming from other parts of the country often ask why there are so many red-white-green flags on the different public institutions and buildings.

However, locals always say that those are not the official flags of Hungary but the flag of the Hungarian nation (the official flag contains the coat-of-arms as well). Furthermore, local leadership allowed the flags to be placed on public buildings in 2008, and everything the law does not forbid is lawful.

Source: 444.hu