In August of this year, Ukraine will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its independence. Although the dignity revolutions of the past seven years, Russia’s armed aggression, the invasion of Crimea, the occupation of territories, and complex reforms have been hugely challenging, it also shows that, although not perfect, Ukraine is capable of dealing with multiple crises. Survive and strengthen its tenacity to confirm its independence and sovereignty.
As all stakeholders and observers know, Ukraine continues to face unprecedented internal and external challenges. One of the main challenges facing Ukraine is the establishment of a unified political state within a multi-ethnic state. The history of many developed democracies in the world can prove that such undertakings are extremely difficult, and it will take decades or even hundreds of years to meet such challenges.
However, for Ukraine, this does not seem to be just a matter of time. The mixed threat from Russia is crucial. In 2014, it annexed Crimea on the Ukrainian peninsula and occupied the territory of Donbass under the pretext of “national brand”.
Moscow continued to insist that its intervention in Ukraine was to protect ethnic Russians and the Russian-speaking population from a fictitious threat posed by the so-called Ukrainian fascists, and falsely added that Ukraine had fallen into a quagmire of civil war.Given the following facts, it’s hard to believe this More than 14,000 people They were killed in this war while protecting Ukraine. They were either Russians or Russian speakers. The strategy of protection by killing is crazy at best and demonic at worst. Although Europe has experienced several wars provoked by the same method in the 20th century, too many people and politicians in the West not only still believe in some absurd Russian narratives, but also repeat these narratives intentionally or unintentionally.
An example of this kind of comment is the excessive tension between Kiev and Budapest.The disagreement over the rights of the Hungarian minority living in Zakarpatia Oblast, the westernmost region of Ukraine, began in September 2017, after Ukraine Passed an education billThis initiated one of the most important reforms required for modern nation-building and the unification of Ukraine.
However, Budapest has a different view and has been preventing Ukraine’s reconciliation with Ukraine. NATO since. The Hungarian government publicly announced that the education and language rights of Hungarian minorities are continuously restricted by this law.The actions of the Ukrainian government are leading to a civil war in Zakarpatia.”
At the same time, the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán continues to uphold the autonomy of the Hungarian minoritySince 2011, Hungary has been effectively issuing passports for the entire Hungarian Zakarpatia community, which has 100,000 Ukrainian citizens. This seems to be a page in the “destroy, destroy and divide your neighbor” script used by Ukraine’s eastern neighbors. No wonder this development turned into a moment of deja vu and was resisted by Kiev. It is true that Budapest pursues a different goal from Russia. Of course, Hungary does not want to repeat the scenes of Crimea or Donbass in the Zakarpatia region of Ukraine.
So what might Hungary’s goal be? Although Russia is trying to drive Ukraine back into the modern Soviet Union, Hungary may be trying to reunify the Hungarian nation philosophically — emotionally and politically, not territorially.
Budapest publicly condemned Russia’s aggression against Ukraine while supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty. Provide rehabilitation services For Ukrainian soldiers and children in Donbass, Ukraine does not always seem to be convinced.Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament László Kövér wrote to his Russian colleague Vyacheslav Volodin, proposing a boycott of Ukrainian law.
Sergey Subinski/AFP via Getty Images
It is certainly futile to transfer the full responsibility for the current Ukraine-Hungarian tension to Russia. Elites in Ukraine and Hungary are trying to speculate on this.
Nevertheless, Russia’s actions are systemic and the most destructive. Since 2014, Ukraine has been carrying out regular provocations (false and misleading information about Hungary’s separatism in Zakapatia in the media, as well as blowing up the offices of the Hungarian organization, etc.) with the sole purpose of getting Ukrainians to confront Hungary people.Most people believe that Russia is behind these provocative actions, and not only Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have also confirmed this. Polish court with The reporter investigates.
Now is the time for Ukraine and Hungary to recognize this fact and begin to unite against the malicious influence of Russia. Ukrainian leaders are likely to invite Hungarian leaders to mutually recognize the following principles: reject false statements, admit that Hungarians are invited to retain their language and culture in Ukraine, and resolve the nature of the problems that have occurred.
Budapest claims that Kiev is trying to limit the use of Hungarian in schools and the public to private communication or religious services, which is inconsistent with reality.according to Ukraine’s new legislation on education and language Budapest has criticized that Hungarians living in Ukraine will be able to further receive education in their native language until the fourth grade. begin From the fifth to the ninth grade, the total time that Hungarians spend studying Ukrainian will increase from 20% to 40%. Later, in the tenth and eleventh grades, 60% of all classes will be taught in Ukrainian. The rest of the time Hungarians can still study in public schools in their mother tongue. In addition, Kiev is ready to actively develop a bilingual education system and allow private schools to freely choose the language of education (Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak and even Russian).
Ukraine hopes to provide Hungarians in Ukraine with new opportunities for self-realization through Ukrainian. After all, without knowing Ukrainian, the Hungarian community will not be able to defend their rights in Ukraine.
Therefore, why not use Budapest’s energy and enthusiasm directly to support Ukraine’s efforts to establish a new Ukrainian political state, where a mature Hungarian community will belong to this country? In the context of containing Russia, this is exactly what Kiev hopes to get from its Western neighbors. Hungary is very aware of how difficult it is to get rid of Russia’s yoke and why this is so important to Ukraine’s independence.
Yes, Ukraine is not perfect, and there are still many things to do in the future. But it also has many companies in that field. For members of the jury, rather than condemning it, it is better to cooperate with Ukraine for mutual benefit, progress and protection. Judgment no.
Dmitro Tuzhanski Director of China-Europe Institute for Strategic Studies (Ukraine), Think Visegrad Fellow 2020 And IVLP alum.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author.
