Ukraine and Hungary – stumbling blocks (video)

Orban is being demanded to recognize Transcarpathia as “traditionally Hungarian” and to guarantee the representation of national minorities in parliament.

Among Hungary's eleven demands for the protection of national minority rights, the main stumbling block is identification of places in Ukraine with a special level of guarantee of the rights of Hungarians. This concerns, in particular, the Transcarpathian region, where, according to the 2001(!) census and previous ones, the proportion of Hungarians was more than 10%.

This norm exists in the current legislation of Ukraine: we are talking about cities and villages with a “significant number” of minority representatives (from 15%) and with “traditional” minority residence (from 10% over the last 100 years).

But this is clearly not enough for Budapest; Hungary began to demand that all settlements in Transcarpathia be automatically recognized as “traditionally Hungarian,” even those in which Hungarians have never historically lived.

The Orban government demands, in principle, that the 10% norm be abolished: if at least some Hungarians have traditionally lived in the territory, then it is “Hungarian.” Another demand for Ukraine is to refuse the decision of local councils in this process and make status assignment automatic.

At the same time, there is a categorical requirement to use only the 2001 census, despite the fact that since then the number of Hungarians living in Transcarpathia has decreased almost by half. At the same time, The Orbán government calls this block decisive for a set of 11 demands.

The reason is that Orban sees very well that the share of the Hungarian population in Transcarpathia has fallen below 10%. Now Budapest has seen a chance to use a historical opportunity and blackmail Ukraine into returning their “Hungarianness” to them.

Hungary also tried to impose on Ukraine the requirement for guaranteed representation of national minorities in parliament. This demand was one of the most problematic on the list, but Hungary refused. Orban wanted to impose on Ukraine the system that currently operates in Hungary: representatives of several national minorities have guaranteed legal representation in parliament.

However, the idea turned out to be politically unacceptable, since its implementation would require changing the “protected” section of the constitution, which would require an all-Ukrainian referendum. Martial law is in effect in Ukraine, so such an idea is impossible. Despite this, Hungary has already signaled the possibility of concessions on this issue.

Meanwhile, Hungary has no plans to deviate from its idea of ​​Ukraine abolishing the legal requirement for all elected officials to know the state language and speak in it at meetings of the councils to which they are elected. In practice, this means that a Ukrainian Hungarian who does not speak Ukrainian can become a deputy of the regional council or even the Verkhovna Rada.

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