The roundabout approval of Europe’s sixth package of sanctions against Russia underscored once again the strength that Russia has gained. Hungary while molding European Union response for Kremlin aggression inside Ukraine. Brussels He made concessions to meet Budapest’s interests, which resulted in the decaffeination of Budapest with the threat of a veto. oil embargo The comprehensive approach that most community leaders desire. The Hungarian shortage is not new, but it was accentuated by the ideological alignment of the populist leader who was prime minister during the war. Victor OrbanGo on Vladimir Putin and your country’s energy dependence Russia. Here is an equation where another item needs to be added: The ambitions of Hungarian ultranationalism Ukraine and the opportunities this war can bring.
Ukraine is a little Hungarian minorityAbout 150,000 people concentrated in the western region Transcarpathiawhere they created 12% of the population. was part of the region Kingdom of Hungary (and the Austro-Hungarian Empire) until its defeat in 1920 World War I resulted in the loss of two-thirds of its territory and half its population, Treaty of Trianon. The trauma is still alive in a part of Hungarian society and has served to make it a state policy of successive governments in Budapest to preserve Hungarian identity, culture or language among themselves. diasporaIt has spread to many countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
In Ukraine, Russia, which was a very guaranteeing state regarding the rights of minorities, until 2014, when Russia began to eat its lands. annexation of Crimea and armed rebellion donbas. Three years later, Kyiv is a new education law. This law allows minorities to be educated in their mother tongue until the fourth grade, but from then on it is slowly gaining weight until Ukrainian becomes the language of instruction in schools and universities. “These changes were not aimed at the Hungarian minority, but derussify public space, It has equally affected all minorities, from education to the media,” explains Tadeusz Iwanski, an analyst at the Warsaw-based Center for Oriental Studies.
But from Budapest this was seen as an intolerable insult. Orban’s government began to condemn the allegations persecution of ukrainian hungarians and Kiev’s “extremism” is the same scenario Putin uses to justify many of his actions in Ukraine, even though in his case it is the supposedly persecuted Russian minority. And as a retaliatory measure, he continued to block. Kiev’s rapprochement with NATOTo the point of vetoing ministerial meetings of the NATO-Ukraine Commission.
Hungarian investments in Transcarpathia
The train crash escalated when Budapest appointed a ministerial-level delegate. Promoting development in Transcarpathia, UkraineWhere Hungary has invested hundreds of millions. Not only that. It also donated hungarian passports Since 2011, Ukrainians of Hungarian origin have demanded autonomy for and for them within the Ukrainian state. “Orban is playing identity and nationalist charter. This is a dangerous game geopolitically, but internally it serves to present itself as the protector of the Hungarian nation,” said Dmytro Tuznankyi, director of the Central European Strategy Institute. Relations between the two countries are at their worst Since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
And prospects are not the best because Kremlin poisoned the conflict. In recent years several Attacks on Hungarian cultural centers in the area and periodically run search messages stab the hungarians“Transcarpathia. Budapest accuses Ukrainian extremists of carrying it out, while there are indications that the Kremlin’s hand may be behind it. A Polish court ruled that one of these attacks, which resulted in the burning of a cultural center two years ago, was carried out by three pro-Russian Poles from the far right.
The ambitions of Hungarian ultranationalism
“There are some figures in the Hungarian political universe who think that regions are like land. Transcarpathia should return to Hungarybut they mainly focus on: extreme right. These intentions have not yet entered the mainstream,” says Tuznankyi. One of several surveys conducted in the region in 2018 concluded that 81% of its 1.2 million population favored the remainder of Ukraine, while 14% suspected that the Hungarian government’s investments in the region could hide its intentions for the end of Budapest. seize it.
Source: Informacion
