Deputies Speak up for Hungarians’ Rights in Ukraine

The Forum of Hungarian Lawmakers from the Carpathian Basin (KMKF) expressed solidarity with the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia, Ukraine, on Friday.

In a resolution adopted at the KMKF plenary session, participants expressed their firm belief that no form of violence should be part of international dispute resolution or the management of inter-ethnic tensions.

The Hungarian representatives of the parliaments of Budapest and the neighboring countries condemned the military aggression against Ukraine, and supported all steps aimed at early peace. They stressed that it is in the interest of Hungarians to have a sovereign, democratic Ukraine, where the existence of Hungarians is not threatened, and their linguistic and cultural heritage is not questioned but is recognized as a value that enriches the whole country and Europe.

KMKF expressed its solidarity with the Hungarian community of Transcarpathia, which due to the erosion of its acquired rights and the growing anti-Hungarianism in the war situation, does not feel fully safe in their homeland, but continues to fight for  survival.

Despite all the debates about European values, there is a general consensus that the rights of ethnic minorities are among the values of Europe,

Gergely Gulyás, the Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, told the plenary session. Gulyás emphasized that the Hungarian government has been loyal to Ukraine, a country that had been attacked, but added that

it is inconceivable that Ukraine, neglecting European values and trampling on the community and individual rights, should become a European Union member.”

“We expect Ukraine to restore the individual and community rights that it has removed since 2015,” Gulyás said.

Ukrainian politicians must know that the entire Hungarian nation is behind the Transcarpathian Hungarian community, and the Hungarian state will not give up protecting their interests despite any pressure,

Speaker of Parliament László Kövér said. According to the politician of Hungary’s governing Fidesz party, there are no separate issues that pertained to just Hungarians living beyond the borders or those within, only a unified Hungarian nation and unified Hungarian issues. “What is happening today to European national minorities can happen tomorrow to the majority nations as well,” Kövér said. He also pointed out that after the conclusion of the war in Ukraine, “it would not be possible to rebuild European security policy without a fair settlement of the issue of national rights.”

Photos via Facebook/Gulyás Gergely