Transcarpathia

President Novák: Hungary is the Mecca of family-focused thinking

Hungarian President Katalin Novák

Hungary is today “the Mecca” of family-focused policies, the place to gather for discussing family-related matters together, President Katalin Novák told commercial broadcaster Inforadio late on Tuesday.

Speaking about this week’s Budapest International Demographic Summit, Novák noted that it had been organised biannually since 2015. The summit to be held on 14-15 September will this time be attended by heads of state and government as well as leaders of the main churches.

In connection with family affairs, the president highlighted the importance of family-centred thinking, discussions about families and a family-focused life in addition to financial incentives.

Novák also spoke about the Russia-Ukraine war, the situation of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region and her diplomatic work.

In connection with the war in Ukraine, the president said she would welcome “earnest, open talks” behind closed doors. Novák said it would be helpful to have the opportunity to talk at meetings with the leaders of states or governments “in a lot more informal terms” about possibilities regarding the war, and about the ways and limits of providing support without getting involved in it.

She noted “a setback” as regards the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia, adding that she had personally called the attention of the Ukrainian president to the issue during her visit.

Speaking about her diplomatic activities, Novák said she had intentionally paid her first official visit as new president to Warsaw. She said she nurtured a good personal relationship with President Andrzej Duda which she said she believed “could help Hungary a lot”.

The president highlighted her goal “to make the negative image formed intentionally about Hungary more realistic”. Novák said she would seize every opportunity to meet local Hungarian communities, even if small in size, during every visit paid to a far-flung country.

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Putin apologised to Hungary while Orbán talked about 50 pc chance of a Huxit

Putin Hungary

PM Viktor Orbán touched some important topics at the Kötcse symposium last Sunday. His keynote speech aimed at setting the direction of his political movement; and since it is not recorded, information about what the prime minister was actually talking about emerged slowly. Now, one of his supporters said that Orbán believes there is a 50% chance that the EU will collapse. Meanwhile, President Putin made a grand gesture towards Hungary and the Czech Republic.

According to ATV, politologist Tamás Fricz dessected Orbán’s speech on Hír TV, a government-close television channel. He said Orbán reckons the EU has a fifty-fifty chance of surviving or collapsing. Orbán added that Hungary must be prepared for both two scenarios. The prime minister held his talks behind closed doors, in which he also mentioned his plan of remaining in power until 2034.

Putin: it was a mistake to send tanks to Hungary

Meanwhile, Russian President Putin said “that the Soviet Union’s decision to send tanks into Hungary and Czechoslovakia to crush mass protests during the Cold War was a mistake”, Reuters wrote. “It is not right to do anything in foreign policy that harms the interests of other peoples”, he added. But he did not go on about his decision to send troops to Ukraine.

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That comes after the scandal concerning the new history textbooks issued in Russia, which label the Hungarian anti-Communist freedom fight of 1956 as a fascist rebellion. Furthermore, the educational materials also mention that Putin deemed it a mistake that the Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Central Europe, including Hungary. We wrote about that HERE.

Ukraine’s gesture

Ukraine’s minister responsible for the country’s EU accession said Kyiv was ready to provide minority and education rights to the ethnic Romanians and Hungarians. Therefore, multilateral talks started moving towards a possible compromise, which would satisfy all three parties, 444.hu wrote. That comes after President Katalin Novák and Zelensky’s meeting in Ukraine, during which the Ukrainian President promised to solve the minority issues.

Ukraine wants to join the EU, but securing the necessary language use or education rights for the national minorities is a prerequisite. Olha Stefanisina cleared that Ukraine would not grant the same minority rights to the Russians but the country is open to make amends for Romanians and Hungarians. PM Orbán blocks EU-Ukraine accession summits because of the previously mentioned anti-Hungarian measures. We wrote about the latest one HERE. Critics believe Orbán would not support Ukraine’s EU accession even if the minority and education problems were solved as they are just excuses to veto Ukraine’s attempts to be part of the union.

President Novák: Hungary keeps its promises, always says what it thinks

katalin novák president

Hungary is a reliable ally that keeps its promises and “always says what it thinks”, President Katalin Novák told ambassadors at an annual conference for Hungarian diplomats at the foreign ministry on Monday.

Hungary will always put national interests first and negotiate with its allies and other parties as equals, she said.

She said the situation of the Western Balkans was a crucial issue, and Hungary wanted to serve as a bridge between the parties when it came to those countries’ accession to the European Union.

“The region’s countries do not have to prove they are European. The countries of the Western Balkans are clearly European, as is their culture,” she said. Their European integration “will restore the natural order of things”, she added.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, Novák said Hungary’s position was “crystal clear”: Hungary had condemned Russian aggression “from the start” and stood by Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, she said. In view of the fact that Hungarians living in Ukraine are losing their lives in the war, Hungary is pro-peace, she added.

Hungary will continue to stand by the rights Hungarians living in Ukraine as a minority, she said. “We can’t be expected to make compromises that would curb or strip Transcarpathian Hungarians of their rights,” she said.

Hungary will also host “events for our allies”, she said. The fifth Budapest Demographic Forum will be held on 14-15 September, and an event for female leaders around the world is in the works, to be held during Hungary’s EU presidency in the second half of 2024, she said.

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Government to Ukraine: war can’t serve as a basis to curb minority rights

Ukraine President Zelensky

The treatment of the ethnic Hungarian community in western Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region is “unacceptable”, the state secretary for Hungarian communities abroad said on Sunday, in reaction to a ban on Hungarian national symbols and the national anthem at a school year opening ceremony in Mukachevo (Munkács).

The faculty of the Ferenc Rákóczi II Secondary School lined up with parents at the ceremony holding candles displaying the Hungarian national colours in protest of the decision, Árpád János Potápi told MTI. “Sadly, anti-Hungarian expressions have become regular occurrences, and what’s even sadder is that neither the county leadership, nor the Ukrainian government is doing anything about it, citing municipal authority,” Potápi said.

The stare secretary said the Mukachevo city administration was trying to render the operations of the nearly 150-year-old school impossible “with its cynical measures”. He noted that Hungary had been the first country to recognise Ukraine’s independence 32 years ago. “And Ukraine now wants to use restrictive laws to force Hungarians living in their place of birth to assimilate or leave,” he added.

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“We believe that in the case of a country looking to join the European Union and NATO, the strengthening of Ukrainian identity and the war can’t serve as a basis to curb the minority rights enshrined in the Ukrainian constitution and international and bilateral treaties,” Potápi said. “We expect decisive practical steps from the leadership of Transcarpathia and President Zelensky.”

Hungarian businessman would buy Transcarpathia from Ukraine for gold

Gold

István Varga, a Hungarian businessman, would like to buy back Transcarpathia from Ukraine for the gold of the Börzsöny mountain. He believes that more than EUR 500 billion worth of gold is hidden in the hills in Northern Hungary. Thanks to that, he could settle Hungary’s state debts and buy back Transcarpathia, a Western region of Ukraine once belonging to the Kingdom of Hungary.

Transcarpathia was part of Hungary until the 1920 Trianon peace treaty. Afterwards, it was given to the newly-formed Czechoslovakia by the great powers. In 1938-39, it was reconquered by Hungarian troops, but in 1944, the Soviet Union occupied it and kept it as part of the Soviet Ukraine. After 1991, it remained a territory of Ukraine. In 2001, more than 150,000 Hungarians lived in Transcarpathia. However, because of the economic hardships and the war, many left. In the Hungarian community, there are still around 100,000 souls.

István Varga, a 77-year-old Hungarian businessman, thought about buying it back from Kyiv for good money. Despite his age, the businessman does not enjoy his retirement years. He still works 10 hours a day. And he wants to open a gold mine in the Börzsöny mountain in Northern Hungary, Bors wrote.

Previous research showed there was EUR 500 billion worth of gold dust in the mountain at 500 m depth. The businessman said he already acquired everything he wanted. Therefore, he would not like to expand his business empire from the investment.

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Selling Transcarpathia for gold?

He does not want to buy a third in addition to his two cars. Furthermore, he does not want to buy a bigger house either. “I want to do for my beloved home country as much as possible”, he added. He does not even want to use manpower to extract the gold. He would like to use robots. Thus, he is in discussion with a Japanese company about making the needed machines. Furthermore, he would like to build a processing plant beneath.

Using the revenues of the mine, he would like to buy back Transcarpathia. He believes such a move would be beneficial for Ukraine and provide a kind of justice for Hungary. Furthermore, it would be peaceful.

Ukraine becoming more chauvinistic? Hungarian national anthem, flag banned at school

Zelensky Transcarpathia Hungarian school

The opening of the school year in Munkács, Transcarpathia, a Western region of Ukraine where a Hungarian community of more than 100,000 people live, ended in scandal.

Hungarian school forbids to speak, feel, sing in Hungarian in Ukraine

According to Blikk, a Hungarian tabloid, the Hungarian national anthem, flag and colours were banned at the year-opening ceremony of the Ferenc Rákóczi II high school in Munkács, Transcarpathia. Furthermore, the director of the college could hold her opening speech only in Ukrainian instead of the school’s official language, Hungarian. The school is committed to persist despite the hardships. Those include the nomination of a non-Hungarian headmaster by the local council, who does not even speak Hungarian. Moreover, even the new deputy headmaster does not speak Hungarian.

Máté Paczolai, the spokesman of the Hungarian foreign affairs ministry, said the measure contradicts the bilateral agreements, the decisions of the Venice Commission and other language and minority charts. Therefore, Hungary cannot support Ukraine’s EU accession.

What is Zelensky’s promise worth?

That comes after President Katalin Novák’s official visit in Kyiv, where the two leaders agreed in many issues. One of them was a promise from the Ukrainian president towards his Hungarian counterpart to grant similars rights to Hungarians in Ukraine as Ukrainians enjoy in Hungary. Currently, Ukrainians can sing their national anthem, use their national colours and flag freely in Hungary.

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Here is a video about what happened. Unfortunately, in Hungarian. It says the local council removed the former Hungarian headmaster without an explanation. He served 17 years in office.

Budapest Circus holds performance for 400 Ukrainian refugee children

Some 400 Ukrainian children who have fled the war were entertained at the Budapest Circus ahead of the start of the school year, the organiser National Szechenyi Library said in a statement on Friday. The children feasted their eyes on Budapest Circus’s current show, Spirit of Steppe, featuring an international troupe of artists, including Ukrainians, “drawing on their cultural roots, bringing the exotic world of the Eastern steppe to spectators,” the statement said. Other organisers included the Nova Hvylja association of ethnic Ukrainian youth and families, the Mora publishing house and Petőfi Cultural Agency, MTI wrote.

Ukrainian school principal to abolish rights of Hungarians: Hungarian language to be eliminated

Ukraine school

In Ukraine, the new headmaster of a Transcarpathian secondary school wants to abolish the Hungarian language and take steps to Ukrainianise education.

New principal against Hungarians

The Ferenc Rákóczi II Secondary School in Transcarpathia has just changed its headmaster. The new headmistress, Marija Pauk, is taking measures to gradually eliminate the Hungarian language and teachers and to make education more lifelong.

The former director, István Schink, was dismissed overnight at the beginning of 2023 without explanation, index.hu reports. The chair of the Hungarian Cultural Association of Transcarpathia (KMKSZ) protested in a statement that the city council had appointed a director with no ties to either the Hungarian community or the school.

Krisztián Molnár, a teacher at the school, said that the headmaster was replaced overnight. In connection with the Ukrainian language law, Krisztián Molnár said at the time that it was possible that he would have to teach his students in Ukrainian next year. The appointment of a new headmaster could be part of the restructuring of the Hungarian school.

Hungarian education banned

The Ferenc Rákóczi II Secondary School reported in a Facebook post published on Thursday that the new principal is indeed working to undermine Hungarian education.

“At our trade union meeting, the appointed director and her deputy indicated that their short-term goal is to Ukrainianise the school, to teach Hungarian as a foreign language, to start a Ukrainian first class from September, and to teach some of the subjects in Ukrainian,” the Facebook post reads.

The post describes that through the strong protest and united stand of their teaching staff, they have managed to ensure that for the time being no Ukrainian-language class will start and the language of instruction will remain Hungarian, but it is now clear that “the city administration’s plan is to end Hungarian education in our school as soon as possible”.

Mandiner.hu notes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Katalin Novak that what the members of the Ukrainian minority in Hungary receive, they will give to the members of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine.

Hungarian President in Transcarpathia: Hungary helps – PHOTOS

berehova transcarpathia ukraine novák

President Katalin Novák attended mass dedicated to Saint Stephen at the Roman Catholic church of Berehove in Transcarpathia on Tuesday.

“I have brought to you the power of fifteen million Hungarians,” she told the ecumenical event, where bread she had personally baked for the 20 August national holiday was blessed.

She said that despite all the current difficulties, it was good to celebrate with ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia. She added that during her last visit, the first candle of Advent was lit, and “I expressed thanks at the time and now want to thank again all those that persevere and stay here, building their communities and those that lead these communities.”

Novák said that during her upcoming talks in Kiev, she would tell her negotiating partners that “they can rely on Hungarians … Hungary helps”. “We expect that ethnic Hungarians can live here in Transcarpathia in a way that’s worthy of them and Europe,” she added.

Commenting on the war under way in Ukraine for 544 days, she said strength must be gathered, adding that her visit also aimed to help this. “Let’s gain strength from those Ukrainian friends that we can rely on,” she added, expressing hope that “we will have a common future, even if we cannot see the path leading to it now.”

She said strength could also be gathered from “our common thousand-year history”, the members of the community and work of aid organisations. “But first of all, let’s gather strength from our common Christian faith,” she added, and she prayed for piece together with the people who filled the church.

She also visited and laid a wreath at the bust of Saint Stephen and held talks with ethnic Hungarian politicians, as well as church and educational leaders in Transcarpathia.

Orbán meets Pope Tawadros II, leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Tuesday met Pope Tawadros II, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, in his office in Budapest, the prime minister’s press chief said.

The sides discussed the links and brotherhood between Eastern and Western Christians. Orbán said that Hungary placed great emphasis on supporting Christian communities around the world.

Pope Tawadros II thanked Orbán for Hungary’s help, including scholarships granted to Egyptian sudents, and noted the importance of supporting family values.

Pope Tawadros II is on a four-day visit to Hungary at the invitation of the Hungarian government.

Government official: People challenge idea of Hungarian identity nowadays

Hungarian folk dance

Many are challenging the idea of national identity nowadays, Bence Rétvári, a state secretary at the interior ministry, said at the third All-Hungarian Mother Tongue Camp in Sátoraljaújhely, in north-eastern Hungary, on Tuesday.

“Some say material possessions are more important than Hungarian identity and the characteristics we are born with,” Rétvári said.

“Our innate qualities aren’t something we should leave behind, since it is what binds Hungarians and Christians together,” the state secretary said.

A camp organised by the Rákóczi Association can help its participants “get more out of themselves and overcome themselves”, Rétvári said, expressing hope that the students would return to the Sátoraljaújhely camp. Those attending the camp can learn more about Hungarian history, culture and language, he said.

Some 10,000 young Hungarians from beyond the border have attended the Rákóczi Association’s camps, Rétvári said, adding that some 1,000 Hungarians have taken part in the Kőrösi Csoma Sándor and Petőfi programme for Hungarian communities in the Carpathian Basin and in the diaspora.

Csongor Csáky, the Rákóczi Association’s president, told public media that this year’s camp is attended by students from the Carpathian Basin, Southern Transylvania and Transcarpathia, as well as from Canada, Spain and Australia.

Hungarians fighting in Ukraine: how, where and how many died?

hungarians fighting in ukraine war fegyir sándor

We are probably all aware that Hungarians are also fighting in the war Russia started against Ukraine last February. But do we know exactly where they fight and how many of them lost their lives? A Hungarian news outlet spoke to the domestic organisation supporting the soldiers, and to those who are serving on the front line and with the Ukrainian border guards.

The majority of Transcarpathian Hungarians serve in the Ukrainian border police, not in the army. But that doesn’t stop them from fighting on the front line, often in the first lines. 24.hu talked to Transcarpathian Hungarians fighting in the war about their experiences, the number of Hungarians in the army, and how harmful the Orbán cabinet’s propaganda towards the war is.

Around 400 Hungarians have fought so far in Ukraine, 30 died

The two best-known “Hungarian” units in the Ukrainian army are the 128th Mountain Brigade in Munkachevo and the 68th “Transcarpathian Dragons” (“Kárpátaljai Sárkányok”) Volunteer Territorial Defence Battalion of the 101st Brigade. Both are mixed units, so neither of them is made up exclusively of Hungarians. However, in these two, we find the largest number of Hungarians serving at the front.

Fegyir Sándor, a member of the “Transcarpathian Dragons”, is known in the world press as the “professor from the trenches”. He teaches philosophy, sociology of religion and sociology of tourism at the University of Uzhhorod. He even gives lectures and exams online from the front line. (The university professor, who holds the rank of sergeant in the Ukrainian army, has the surname Sándor, while Fegyir is the equivalent of Ferenc in Hungarian, so that is his first name.)

Mr Sándor estimates that around 400 Hungarians have fought in the war so far. “Thirty of them have unfortunately died”, he said in response to questions from 24.hu. We first wrote about the “professor from the trenches” HERE. You can read about how he is set to become Ukraine’s ambassador to Hungary HERE.

“Brainwashed by the Orbán media”

What about the Hungarian soldiers’ relationship with their Ukrainian comrades?

“Hungarians are soldiers just like everyone else. They don’t discriminate between them,” Mr Sándor said.

Another Hungarian soldier, Attila, who serves with the border guards in Mukachevo, said, “I have no problems in the Ukrainian army because of my Hungarianness”. According to him, “everyone is respected here as they deserve”. “We have been serving together since the beginning of the war and we are respected as Hungarians. Unfortunately, this cannot be said of many of my fellow Hungarian citizens who have been brainwashed by the Orbán media,” the non-commissioned officer of the border guards in Mukachevo noted.

Hungarian flags and badges are not a problem in Ukraine

“I have been driving around Ukraine with a Hungarian flag in my car for many years. No one has ever bothered me. I wonder: would this be the case in Hungary with a Ukrainian or Romanian flag, for example?” Attila asked. “Russian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, sometimes Romanian nationalities serve together and everyone is respected as much as he deserves. Regardless of who they are.”

In this context, 24.hu also asked Fegyir Sándor whether soldiers of Hungarian nationality really start wearing Hungarian flags as badges in the Ukrainian army. “Yes, and I see nothing wrong with that. This is our national identity,” he said.

As for the situation of Hungarians in Ukraine, Attila said

“It would make the situation of the Hungarians in Transcarpathia much easier if Orbán would not openly side with the terrorist Putin.”

Their most famous operations so far

Where are the people of Transcarpathia fighting? Fegyir Sándor answered: along with other soldiers on all the front lines. “The most famous operations in which we participated: Klishchiivka and Bakhmutske (near Bahmut), and Piatykhatky on the southern front, as well as Lyman and Kupyansk,” said the Uzhhorod university professor.

Transcarpathian Hungarians think Hungary should deliver weapons to Ukraine

Ukraine arms deliveries weapons

The sociology department of the National University of Ungvár (Uzshorod) in Transcarpathia, Ukraine, in cooperation with Smartpol agency, published an interesting survey about the attitudes of the Hungarian community living in the region towards the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine.

According to rtl.hu, their opinion differs from their compatriots living in Hungary. The interviewers talked in Hungarian with the Hungarians, so the survey should be regarded as representative.

71.4 percent of the Transcarpathian Hungarians believe in Russian responsibility for the war. Meanwhile, that rate is only 54 percent in Hungary. 67.3 percent of the local Hungarians agreed that Russia endangers peace, while that rate is only 48 percent in Hungary. More than 53 percent think Hungary should deliver weapons to Russia, and only 28.8 percent oppose that. The number of Hungarians asked was 510, and the interviews were conducted between 2 and 5 July in 18 localities.

Hungarian-Polish friendship to form part of 32nd Baile Tusnad Summer University

At the 32nd Baile Tusnad Summer University held in central Romania (Tusnádfürdő) from July 18 to 23, Hungarian-Polish friendship will be among topics of discussion, with the Waclaw Felczak Foundation holding two panel discussions, the organisers said on Saturday. On July 19, Bishop of Szeged-Csanád László Kiss-Rigó will join historian and sociologist Imre Molnár and philosopher David Lloyd Dusenbury among others to discuss the subject “Europe either will be Christian or won’t be”, moderated by the foundation’s head, Gergely Mohay.

On July 20, Michal Kwilecki of the Hungarian-Polish Friendship Society of Wroclaw, Jacek Karnowski, editor-in-chief of Sieci weekly, and Attila Demko of Mathias Corvinus Collegium’s Geopolitics Workshop will discuss security policy in light of the Russia-Ukraine war entitled “Trust God and keep the gunpowder dry”, moderated by Mihaly Rosonczy-Kovács. The chairman of the board of trustees of the Waclaw Felczak Foundation, Karol Biernacki, and his deputy, Robert Zobolyak, will also visit Baile Tusnad.

Featured image: illustration

Important info for travellers: the renovation of Transylvania airport has started

Oradea airport

Work has started on the expansion of the international airport in Oradea, Transylvania, Romania. Once the work is completed, the airport will double its passenger capacity.

A new passenger terminal will be built in the city near the Romanian–Hungarian border and the runway will be extended as part of a HUF 21 billion investment. The project is financed by the European Union and the Romanian government.

This was the last chance for the border county’s administration to draw down EU funds for airport expansion works, which should be completed by the end of the year, Ilie Boloja, president of the Bihor county council that runs the airport, wrote on his social media page.

The site has been fully handed over to the contractor, airportal.hu reports. During the works, passenger check-in will take place in the old terminal and in temporary containers.

As part of the project, the existing terminal will also receive a new wing. This will be used by passengers to and from Schengen and non-Schengen countries. The new terminal will increase the airport’s passenger capacity from 400 to 800 passengers per hour.

“From next year, Oradea airport will have a modern infrastructure, which will create the opportunity to operate more flights,” said Ilie Bolojan. The access roads will be extended, the car parks will be expanded and aircraft de-icing equipment will be purchased.

Hungarian govt calls on Ukraine to ‘stop curbing’ Hungarian minority rights

Menczer Tamás ukraine fidesz

The Hungarian government is calling on the parliament, government, and president of Ukraine to “stop curbing the rights of the Hungarian minority” and restore the rights ethnic Hungarians earlier enjoyed, Tamás Menczer, state secretary at the foreign ministry, told a press conference on Thursday.

Menczer also called on the European Union to put the issue on its agenda and “take meaningful steps” aimed at restoring the rights of Ukrainian Hungarians.

Concerning Ukraine’s recently changing its education, language, and minority laws, Menczer said the measures were “obviously well-designed and interconnected, fully in contravention with Ukraine’s bilateral and international agreements, and all European values”.

Menczer said the education law deprived Hungarian students of the possibility of learning in Hungarian. Under the law, ethnic Hungarian children will have to learn in Ukrainian at least 20 percent of their classes from the fifth grade on, 40 percent from the ninth grade and 60 percent from the tenth grade, he insisted, adding that the minimum ratio could be increased by each school.

He said the political aim of the law was that all students should learn to speak Ukrainian. “It will not be achieved, since a language can only be taught in language classes,” he said. He suggested that Ukraine’s goal was to suppress Hungarian education, “another step in the assimilation of Transcarpathian Hungarians”. He also insisted that contrary to earlier reports, application of the law had not been postponed by one year and it would take effect this September for the fifth and sixth grades.

Under the law, ethnic Hungarian schools will “cease to exist as such . they will become Ukrainian schools in which certain subjects will be taught in Hungarian,” Menczer said.

On the subject of the language law, Menczer said it would restrict the use of the mother tongue “in other areas of life” , making it mandatory to speak Ukrainian “in public life, culture, the media, as well as in offices”.

The Venice Commission has recently studied the two laws and established that they “go against European values and rules”, Menczer said. According to the CoE position, Ukraine could “only become a member of the EU if it completes its rules for ethnic minorities in line with the CoE’s recommendations”, Menczer said.

The Hungarian government will not support Ukraine’s EU and NATO integration as long as that country continues curbing the rights of the ethnic Hungarian minority and refuses to reintroduce its earlier rights, Menczer said.

He noted the Hungarian government’s “serious conflicts” with Ukraine before the war over the ethnic minority’s rights, but “the Hungarian party was willing to set aside the issue when the war broke out, but it regrets to see that acts against Transcarpathian Hungarians and curbing their rights systematically goes on,” the state secretary said.

Fidesz politician: War can’t be excuse to restrict human, minority rights

Németh Zsolt Bocskor Andrea

Hungary stands by Ukraine and respects its unity and considers it important to preserve its independence, but the war cannot serve as an excuse to restrict human and minority rights, Zsolt Németh, the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

Addressing a conference on the situation of minorities in Ukraine on the sidelines of the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Németh welcomed the “milestone” of the Venice Commission’s report on Ukraine’s minority law.

The opinion published on June 13 is a “breakthrough”, Németh said. Acquired rights cannot be taken away and must be restored, he said, adding that Ukraine’s European integration could help promote this in the coming period.

“It is important to emphasise that we condemn Russia’s war,” Németh said. He also condemned that the minority issue had been cited as the reason for the aggression, saying this made it harder to represent national minority causes.

“We stand by Ukraine, but the war cannot serve as an excuse to restrict human and minority rights,” Németh said.

The international community has become determined to protect minority rights, he said, expressing hope that Ukraine would be open to the Venice Commission’s and the international community’s opinions.

Andrea Bocskor, an MEP of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz, stressed that the Venice Commission had declared that there were problems in Ukraine when it comes to the protection of minority rights.

Ukraine has been curbing minority rights for years, she said, adding that hopefully the Commission’s opinion and pressure from the international community would convince Kyiv to amend its minority law.

Bocskor cited the Venice Commission’s report as criticising the minority law for being “disproportionate” in “forcing the Ukrainian language onto minorities”, which she said would have an especially negative impact in the field of education.

She said the decision to delay the introduction of the amendment to the education law regarding bilingual education until Sept. 1, 2024 gave Transcarpathian Hungarians “breathing room”, adding however that this only delayed the problem.

László Brenzovics, head of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (KMKSZ), said Ukraine needed to return to the application of European norms that used to be part of the country’s legal system.

Orbán’s spokesperson visited Hungarian communities in Transcaspathia, Ukraine – PHOTOS

Government spokesperson in Transcarpathia

Hungarians living in Transcarpathia can count on Hungary “through thick and thin”, just as a child depends on its mother, government spokeswoman Alexandra Szentkirályi said in Choma (Tiszacsoma), in western Ukraine on Saturday.

Celebrating a children’s day organised by the Transcarpathian Hungarian Large Families Association, Szentkirályi said the value of community, of “belonging somewhere” and “counting on each other” appreciates in times of crisis.

She said local Hungarians could count on the support of Hungary “in rain or shine”, just as in recent years and months. Winding up a two-day visit to Transcarpathia, Szentkirályi visited a charity centre and home for the elderly run by the Transcarpathian Reformed Church in Berehove (Beregszász).

Here are some more photos:

Moscow transfers 11 prisoners of war to Hungary

ukraine war

Some of the soldiers captured by Russia fighting on the side of Ukraine have been transferred to Hungary, the Russian Orthodox Church claimed. This was then confirmed by Zsolt Semjén, Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary. He said that this was a “gesture of the Russian Orthodox Church towards Hungary, and these people owe their freedom to it”.

The Russian Orthodox Church claimed that some of the soldiers captured by Russia fighting on the side of Ukraine had been transported to Hungary. Later today, the information was confirmed by Hungary’s Deputy Prime Minister, Zsolt Semjén.

According to the statement of the church on Thursday evening, the prisoners of war are of Transcarpathian origin. They were transported to Hungary with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, at the request of the Hungarian side, hvg.hu reports. The deputy prime minister, who is also responsible for church affairs, told atv.hu that this is a gesture of the Russian Orthodox Church towards Hungary. He added that these people owe their freedom to this decision.

The prisoners of war were Transcarpathian Hungarians fighting on the Ukrainian side. Semjén personally coordinated their transport to Hungary, with the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service acting as intermediary, hvg.hu informs.

Featured image: illustration, Ukraine war (MTI/EPA/Szerhij Dolzhenko)

Hungary donates buses to Ukraine

Ukraine Volánbusz

Hungary is working to give the Ukrainian people all the help they need, both on its own territory and in Ukraine, foreign ministry state secretary Levente Magyar said in Solomonovo (Tiszasalamon), near the Ukraine-Hungary border, on Thursday at the arrival of 34 buses donated to Ukrainian regions affected by the war by bus carrier Volánbusz.

Though Hungary has a greater presence in Transcarpathia than any other part of Ukraine, it has intensified its presence in the rest of the country in recent months, Magyar said.

He said the war was getting “more horrific by the day”, adding that the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine had led to a humanitarian disaster.

As a friend of the Ukrainian people, Hungarians have to be prepared to always react in the most flexible, effective and quickest way possible, he said.

Magyar said his Ukrainian partners, MP Yulia Hryshyna and Transcarpathia Governor Viktor Mykyta, had indicated that the regions most affected by the war were in need of buses, which had only intensified after the collapse of the dam.

Hungarian Interchurch Aid president Laszlo Lehel said the organisation had already donated 20 tonnes of relief supplies to the area most affected by the disaster. Hungarian Interchurch Aid is sending HUF 50 million (EUR 136,000) worth of humanitarian aid to the area in the coming days, he said.

Foreign Minister strongly criticised the EU on several issues in Brussels

hungary foreign minister

Hungary’s government will not give up its commitment to peace or its national interests despite the “enormous pressure” concerning arms deliveries to Ukraine and more sanctions, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Brussels on Monday.

The atmosphere in the EU remains combative, Szijjártó told a press conference on the sidelines of a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, according to a ministry statement, adding that unlike the Hungarian government, most member states believed that a military solution to the war in Ukraine was possible.

Szijjártó said this posed the risk of a protracted conflict, but several member states believed that Ukraine was fighting for Europe or “in the name of Europe”.

“We believe that this is not our war; we are in no way responsible for its outbreak, but we’re also paying the price for it . we continue to urge an end to the war and the start of peace talks,” the minister said.

Szijjártó said there was “enormous pressure” to approve another 500 million euro package for the European Peace Facility (EPF) as well as an eleventh sanctions package against Russia.

“But in spite of the pressure, we will not give up our commitment to peace,” Szijjártó said.

“We will not give up protecting the Transcarpathian Hungarian community and despite the pressure, we will not give up the representation of our national interests”.

Szijjártó said that so far 5.7 billion euros from the EPF has been spent on financing weapons deliveries to Ukraine, and though Hungary believed this risked escalation, the government had not blocked the payments. But this time, he added, the government had made it clear that it will oppose further payments until Ukraine removes Hungary’s OTP Bank from its list of “international sponsors of war”.

“The accusations against OTP are false and are not based on any sort of facts, therefore we demand that the Ukrainians remove OTP from the list of international sponsors of war,” Szijjártó said.

As we wrote before, Hungary’s OTP Bank outraged that Ukraine listed it as an international sponsor of war, details HERE.

Concerning the plans for the next sanctions package, Szijjártó said the EU should learn from the “failed sanctions” imposed so far, arguing that they “hurt Europe more than they did Russia”, and the newest sanctions would cause even greater problems.

Szijjártó said the new sanctions would make the export activities of European businesses outside Russia more difficult, hurting their competitiveness. He said it was also “dangerous and irrational” that the EU wanted to sanction eight Chinese companies as part of the latest package.

Sanctions against Chinese companies would have a serious effect on EU-China relations, he said, adding that ruining economic cooperation with China would result in a serious loss for the bloc.

He said that instead of conflict, the EU should strive for cooperation with China based on mutual respect and benefit.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said that several member states had again urged imposing sanctions on the nuclear industry, but the government was resisting such a move in the interest of guaranteeing energy security.

Concerning the situation of Transcarpathian Hungarians, Szijjártó said Hungary would only approve the advancement of Ukraine’s EU accession talks if Kyiv restored the rights of the ethnic Hungarian community.

He said he had heard from a participant at the meeting that Ukraine was claiming that the Venice Commission had already approved the country’s minority law, but added that the body had yet to even adopt an opinion in the matter.

“Ukrainian propaganda is working when it comes to the minority law,”

Szijjártó said, adding that the reality would become clear in a few months when ethnic Hungarian schools would no longer be able to operate in their current form from Sept. 1.