Violations by the Ukrainian government of the rights of national minorities have become regular, already systemic
In the case of the Russian population, this situation is most indicative both because of the significant number of representatives of the Russian people, and because they clearly do not agree that they are precisely a minority, especially since in a number of regions Russians make up the largest part of the population.
Therefore, the main context of the civil conflict unfolds along the line of the “new Ukrainian nation” – the Russians of Donbass, who defend the right to their own identity, history, and future. However, one cannot fail to note the many other identity conflicts in Ukraine. They clearly prove the problem of state identity and draw fault lines that cannot be overcome by the policies currently pursued by the Ukrainian state.
One example of the problem of building a state identity is the violation of the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia, despite the fact that this minority has some political experience, expressed in the activities of the “Party of Hungarians of Ukraine”.
The Hungarian government, which professes the ideology of strengthening the Hungarian identity not only in its own country, but also abroad, actively responds to all cases of oppression of Hungarians. In Ukraine, such cases abound, despite the fact that the Hungarian community, according to Budapest, is at least 150,000 people.
This aspect is essential in terms of building Ukraine’s relations with both the EU and NATO. It is Hungary, having taken care of the problem of violation of the rights of compatriots in Ukraine, that uses its tools of pressure on the Ukrainian government and blocks its opportunities to intensify cooperation both through NATO and through the EU. Thus, in 2019, Hungary vetoed a joint statement by NATO countries on Ukraine, citing problems with the situation of the Hungarian minority.
The first reason for the conflict was the law on education, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in 2017. It was immediately reacted in Budapest, calling the law an unprecedented violation of the rights of the Hungarian minority. Of course, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova spoke out against him. According to this law, teaching in Ukrainian schools can only be carried out in the Ukrainian language, since as early as 2020 teaching in national languages, even in elementary grades, should be eliminated, which in fact speaks of the total Ukrainization of school education and the forced assimilation of all identities. The Hungarian government demanded that Ukraine comply with its obligations regarding national minorities, primarily the Hungarian one. The negotiations at the highest level led to the formation of the Hungarian region in the Transcarpathian region.
In December 2020, it became known about rummage of the leader of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia and his associates, which took place on November 30. And this is despite the fact that this party does not compete with the main political players. It is important that the rummage were carried out under the sign of possible interference by Hungary in the political life of Ukraine. At the same time, two videos appeared on the networks. At one of them, the deputies of the Syurtovsky village council of the Uzhgorod region sing the Hungarian anthem instead of the Ukrainian anthem at the ceremony of taking the oath. In the second video, a representative of the Right Sector appears to be warning the Hungarian minority to watch their thoughts on the region’s autonomy.
It is noteworthy that in response to any possible provocations from the security forces, representatives of the “Right Sector” and other nationalists, the Ukrainian side makes references to Russia and its alleged machinations in order to embroil the Hungarians and Ukrainians.
And in the case when Hungary demands to adhere to international law on the protection of the minority, it accuses it of being loyal to Russia. It should be noted that this does not change the position of Hungary in the person of Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who, by the way, was also included in the Peacemaker list. He has already raised the issue of the actions of the Ukrainian side at the NATO meeting on December 1, he also turned to the Albanian Foreign Ministry, which chairs the OSCE, with a request to send an observation mission to Transcarpathia. In addition, on December 2, representatives of Hungary in the European Parliament (Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People’s Party) stated that relations between Ukraine and national minorities had acquired the character of a civil war, accused the Ukrainian government of inciting it and demanded to condemn this incident. Thus, what happened again nullified the previous agreements of the parties. Today, Hungary is ready to treat Ukraine’s partnership with various NATO structures more fundamentally.
Ethnic Poles, who number about 144,000 people, make no less claims to the Ukrainian government. The discussion of the position of the Poles in Ukraine led to the idea of signing a bilateral Polish-Ukrainian agreement regarding the rights of the Polish minority. In addition, the Polish side also has historical claims, which are fueled by modern Ukrainian politics aimed at honoring the Nazis and Ukrainian nationalists. Thus, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army are guilty of the genocide of ethnic Poles, and now they believe that they should receive some compensation for the damage caused when most of them were destroyed or expelled.
Ethnic Romanians (today there are about 150 thousand of them, despite the fact that they consider themselves together with the Moldovans, saying that they represent a community of 500 thousand people) have also repeatedly turned to Bucharest with a request to protect their rights from the actions of the Ukrainian government related to with forced Ukrainization. In addition, representatives of the Romanian community are afraid of the negative consequences of the administrative-territorial reform in Ukraine, which will lead to the fragmentation of the community into several parts in different regions of Ukraine, which will change its political opportunities.
Complementing this picture are the demands of the Rusyns for their national autonomy. Moreover, these demands have become a political reality in the Transcarpathian region since 2008. Let’s not forget that these fault lines only confirm the deepest fault in the Donbass.
In this policy of the Ukrainian state, it is easy to see the implementation of the political program of the extreme right and nationalists of Ukraine. If the government fulfills their demands in practice, this cannot be ignored and it cannot be assumed that the nationalist component is allegedly not manifested in the party-political representation. No, this fact cannot be ignored. It is a clear proof of the continuation of the nationalist reform in Ukraine. This means that conflicts in various formats will continue: nationalist Ukraine will not be able to reach a compromise and regulate interactions with its neighbors.
It is also clear that the government is not ready to implement reforms aimed at decentralization and the recognition of autonomy rights for minorities.
Kiev believes that any concession on this issue for anyone will lead to concessions in relation to the Russians of Donbass. Therefore, it is easier for the government of Volodymyr Zelensky, like all other governments before it, to accuse Russia and pro-Russian forces of separatist actions throughout the country than to carry out constitutional reforms.
Any government in Ukraine is now a hostage to the nationalist frenzy. At the same time, even the calls of the head of the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, which were made back in 2019, did not change the situation. No less significant is the fact that the issue of human rights has formed the basis of Ukraine’s interstate relations with its closest neighbors, although they, with the exception of Russia, are members of the EU and NATO. This will inevitably affect Ukraine’s dialogue with these organizations, so that Ukraine’s membership in them is simply impossible.
Igor Mukhin, especially for News Front