Ukrainians afraid of Hungary’s expansion in Transcarpathia

Ukrainska Pravda made a report from Transcarpathia’s Beregszász region, where there is a strong Hungarian community, they wrote. They asked locals whether there was a conflict between Hungarians and Ukrainians.

Hungarian expansion in Transcarpathia

In Csonkapapi, locals said the village had 800 inhabitants before the Russian invasion. Not is has less than 300. Only poor people and those who lacked help in Hungary or other Western countries remained. That means not only Ukrainians but also Hungarians leave the area.

According to index.hu, a Hungarian woman told Pravda she regularly follows the Hungarian press because the Ukrainian was telling lies. She criticised the Ukrainian government for slamming the Orbán cabinet since they do not send arms to Kyiv. She believes that it goes well for the Hungarians, they live in peace. Why should they send weapons? Pravda compares the Hungarian government’s struggle for the Hungarian ethnic minority in Transcarpathia with similar Russian efforts in East Ukraine. The only difference is that Budapest has not started a war yet, they conclude.

Vitaly Antipov, a member of the city council of Beregszász, said the Hungarian media transmits the Russian narrative. Furthermore, they provide a pretext for the Orbán government to block Ukraine’s initiatives in the EU and NATO.

Hungarian mayor says they only want to use their mother tongue in Transcarpathia

One of their latest suggestions was to give USD 815 (a lot of money in Ukraine) to parents sending their children to Ukrainian language elementary schools. That is how he believes young people could learn the language of their fatherland. The initiative provoked outrage among the ethnic minorities, but Mr Antipov highlighted that the Hungarian government has been doing the same in the last few years. He said Hungary gives almost USD 300 (HUF 100,000) for the same reason to the Hungarian parents. Furthermore, Hungary supports Hungarian teachers. As a result, many gain a degree but cannot speak Ukrainian. “We respect each other. But our region should not be made Hungarian. If Hungarians are in a majority in Beregszász, that does not mean they should hang another country’s national flag”, an orthodox priest said.

The Hungarian mayor of Beregszász said the Ukrainian attacks against the ethnic minorities do not help victory. He called the Ukrainian representatives’ aforementioned initiative discriminative and aggressive but acknowledged that learning Ukrainian is crucial. Zoltán Babják highlighted that Hungarians living in Transcarpathia are not tourists. They are not anti-Ukraine and want the same as every Ukrainian. They want to use their mother tongue in their everyday life. The European way is not to pay a lot of money for the parents to let their children learn in Ukrainian classes. Ukraine should develop the educational system instead.

Read also:

• Russian politician encourages Hungary to occupy Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region
• Orbán leaked NATO’s secret plan about Ukraine? Russia outraged