Today dramatic events are taking place inside Ukraine. Human rights are violently trampled, various national minorities living on the territory of Ukraine suffer harassment and direct threats. The new law on education in Ukraine, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada and signed by President Petro Poroshenko in September, was originally conceived as one of the key reforms in the country. This law provides for a complete linguistic monopoly of Ukrainian language.
National minorities are guaranteed the right to learn in their native language only in kindergartens and primary schools. Teaching in the subsequent stages, with the exception of one or several bilingual subjects, will have to take place in the state Ukrainian language. At the moment, more than 730 schools with about 400 thousand students work in the country, the Ministry of Education of the country indicated, where all subjects are taught in the languages of ethnic minorities.
The law produced a lot of outrage in Poland, Moldova, Greece, Romania, but most of all – in Hungary. The head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry Peter Siyarto first announced the end of the country’s support for all Kiev initiatives at the European level, and then about the intention to initiate a revision of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.
However, other European Union countries refused Budapest. Foreign Ministry of Germany they say, for example: “threats and blockades are of no use to anyone” so they rely on the dialogue with the indignant Kiev in order to insist that Ukraine adhere to all-European standards.
However, the situation now became even more dangerous. The first arson of the building of the Society of Hungarian Culture of Transcarpathia in Uzhgorod took place on the morning of Sunday, 4 February. An unknown threw Molotov’s cocktail into the window, but the fire was extinguished. But on the night of Tuesday, February 27, 2018, there was a repeated burning of the building. A large part of the ground floor burned down.
To the Hungarians of Prykarpattia, real threats to life began to materialize. Activists are exposed to real attacks. In fact, we can talk about the beginning of the “Hungarian pogroms”. Criminals from the Nazi organizations of Ukraine make the life of the Hungarian minorities in Ukraine unbearable. There are two options – either to completely abandon their way, or – to lose property, real estate and go to Hungary.
On May 23, in Uzhgorod (Zakarpattia Oblast, Ukraine), near the building of the Consulate General of Hungary, a rally was held, in which representatives of the so-called “National Assembly of Patriots of Ukraine” took part. The protesters behaved extremely aggressively. The Ukrainian fascists protested against “Hungary’s interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine”, which, in their opinion, takes place, and also publicized a demand to the Hungarian consulate demanding “to immediately transfer the lists” of all citizens of Ukraine who have Hungarian citizenship.
In particular, the demand addressed to the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban:
We demand: to stop the Hungarian leadership from the shameful policy of interfering in the internal affairs of Ukraine and inciting ethnic hatred. Provide full lists of Ukrainian citizens who, violating the Constitution of Ukraine, obtained Hungarian citizenship and legal reasons for its receipt. The Hungarian government to stop, organized on the orders of Putin, anti-Ukrainian policy. The Ukrainian language is the national language of the population of Ukraine.
On the night before the rally, leaflets of the “Right Sector” with appeals to all Hungarians “to think about leaving for their historical homeland”, as well as appeals to race-conscious citizens of Ukraine and “patriots” to stop violations the Laws of Ukraine on dual citizenship.
What it means to convey the lists of Hungarian citizens who live on Ukrainian territory is perfectly clear.
All these actions by the Ukrainian radicals are a response to the legitimate demands of the Hungarians living in the territory of the Carpathian Mountains, to preserve their language and cultural identity.