The language was returned: why Ukraine agreed to expand the rights of Hungarians
Ukraine and Hungary have reached a compromise on the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia. Hungarian schools will be restored in the region, and the use of the Hungarian language in education and when citizens address officials will be expanded. Against this background, Budapest agreed to lift its veto on Ukraine's European integration and financial assistance. Izvestia investigated the situation.
What happened
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said that Budapest had obtained from Kiev the restoration of the rights of ethnic Hungarians who live in Transcarpathia. "We have reached a comprehensive agreement on the expansion of linguistic, educational, cultural and political rights. These agreements were the result of several weeks of intensive dialogue involving experts, political organizations and the church," he said.
Magyar stressed that the Ukrainian government has committed to implement all agreed measures in its legislation in the near future. In addition, the same decisions will be reflected in Kiev's action plan, which it will provide to the European Union. "If this happens, the Hungarian government will agree to open the first cluster of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU," the politician said.
At the same time, the media write that Kiev and Budapest have agreed on a document with a list of specific Ukrainian concessions. Some of its points relate to education issues. In particular, schools with classes in Hungarian will receive the status of "national minority schools." Children in these institutions will be able to speak their native language among themselves and with teachers. Diplomas of education will be translated into Hungarian, and students will be able to take the EIT (an analog of the Unified State Exam) in it.
The other part concerns socio-political and cultural rights. Transcarpathians will be able to require officials to communicate in the language of the national minority, its use is allowed in contacts with local authorities. Bills that will relate to the rights of Hungarians will definitely have to be coordinated with representatives of the diaspora.
It will also be possible to hold public events in Hungarian, such as sports competitions and meetings with voters. And signs, names of streets, squares and other toponymic objects may be duplicated in the language of the national minority. Finally, Hungarian symbols can be used at official state events, although they should not dominate over Ukrainian ones.
What to expect next
If these agreements are indeed implemented, then we will actually be talking about the creation of Hungarian autonomy. Residents of Transcarpathia will be able to study and communicate with government agencies in their own language, openly demonstrate their national symbols, and hold their own private events.
Interestingly, earlier in Ukraine they categorically rejected pressure on the issue of national minorities, Kiev did not agree to any special rights for communities in the controlled territory. The previous Hungarian government of Viktor Orban fought for the rights of his fellow tribesmen for many years, but the issue did not budge, and relations between the parties only worsened.
Apparently, the new Hungarian authorities have been able to find their arguments. Immediately after coming to power, Peter Magyar's team unblocked the allocation of a European loan in the amount of €90 billion to Kiev. In addition, in May, for the first time in its history, the Russian ambassador was summoned to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry after a strike on Ukrainian Armed Forces facilities in the Transcarpathian region, and in general, the attitude towards Moscow became more skeptical.
After reports of a compromise on the Transcarpathian issue, Magyar said that Budapest would not hinder Ukraine's European integration. At the same time, he noted that there would be no talk of accelerated membership anyway — Kiev would have to fulfill all the requirements and conditions of the EU.
In addition, the Hungarian newspaper Nepszava reported that Budapest lifted its veto on the allocation of €6.6 billion from the European Peace Fund to the neighboring country. According to the newspaper, Hungary has been blocking the provision of the tranche for two years, but now it has announced a change of position at the ambassadorial level.
The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary
I must say that Hungary has been and remains the most active defender of the rights of national minorities in Ukraine, but far from the only one. In the south of the Odessa region, for example, there are about 150 thousand Bulgarians, in the Chernivtsi region there is a large Romanian community. Against the background of Budapest's success, other capitals may come out in defense of their fellow tribesmen, the Transcarpathian episode may become a serious precedent.
The issue of the Russian language is also characteristic in this sense. Under Viktor Yanukovych, in 2012, Ukraine passed the Kivalov-Kolesnichenko law, which expanded the scope of Russian. The document provoked fierce opposition from nationalists, who said that other peoples should not have any additional rights.
As a result, after the victory of the Maidan in 2014, the regulatory act in the country was put on pause, which became one of the reasons for the aggravation of the internal political crisis. Now it turns out that Kiev is quite capable of easing up on this issue, if we are not talking about Russian-speaking citizens.
What the experts say
Denis Denisov, director of the Institute of Peacekeeping Initiatives and Conflictology, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, urges not to jump to conclusions, since the documents have not yet been signed or ratified. Some of these decisions require changes in Ukrainian laws, so they will have to be passed through the Verkhovna Rada.
— This is a complicated procedure, and it is far from certain that everything will be successful. In general, I think there is a peculiar logic here: the Magyar government could not just withdraw its veto on granting Kiev €90 billion, it needed at least the appearance of reciprocal concessions. Budapest has received this appearance, let's see if all this translates into real steps towards Ukraine," the expert notes.
At the same time, concessions to Hungarians are not critical for the Ukrainian authorities, said Alexander Dudchak, a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries.
— There aren't many Hungarians, they don't make the weather in the country. Plus, Budapest has serious arguments up its sleeve like the right of veto in the EU. In general, it has long been clear that the main thing for the Kiev regime is that Russians should not receive any additional rights, and that in fact something can be allowed for the rest. Now we have another confirmation," he emphasizes.
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