PHOTOS: New building of elite Hungarian MCC College opened in Transcarpathia, Ukraine

The Hungarian government supports ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia, including “promotion of their fundamental rights and restoring their rights to use the (Hungarian) language,” Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office, said at a ceremony opening the new academic year at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium’s new building at Berehove (Beregszász) on Sunday.

In his address, Gulyás thanked Viktor Mikita, the governor of Transcarpathia, for honouring the event and “demonstrating through his presence the importance of cooperation between Hungarians and Ukrainians in such hard times”.

The Hungarian government condemns “Russia’s aggression, launching the war and violating (Ukraine’s) territorial integrity”, Gulyás said.

According to Gulyás, Hungary has provided aid worth a total 35 billion forints (EUR 90m) to Ukraine since the outbreak of the war, while Hungarian charity organisations have sent thousands of tonnes of food and other supplies worth some 10 billion forints. Tens of thousands of refugees have been accommodated in Hungary, and over one million were allowed transit to other countries, he added.

Hungary strives for good neighbourly relations and “wants to be a friend to Ukraine”, Gulyás said, but added that those efforts were impeded by “the one-sidedness of gestures, deliberate misunderstanding and measures curbing the rights of the Hungarian minority”.