Cultural Alliance of Hungarians Issues Statement

Washington, DC – On October 13, the Cultural Alliance of Hungarians in Sub-Carpathia issued a statement condemning “the campaign of artificially fomented anti-Hungarian sentiment” on the rise in recent weeks.

The statement cites the website Mirotvorets, maintained by extremist Ukrainian nationalists, who have called for the “liquidation” of ethnic minorities. The website recently published a list of ethnic Hungarians by name, with their personal data.

According to the statement by the Hungarian minority organization, Ukrainian authorities have failed to take any steps to shut down the site or to protect ethnic Hungarian citizens against such incidents of intimidation.

The statement also cites increased harassment and detention of ethnic Hungarians by Ukrainian authorities at the Hungarian border; and a petition, apparently sanctioned by the Ukrainian Parliament, to collect voter signatures in favor of the “deportation and expulsion” of citizens who hold dual nationality.

The situation of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, which numbers approximately 150,000, is further threatened by recent laws that severely restrict existing provisions for native-language education and official use of minority languages – even though Ukraine is bound by international agreements to protect these rights, and indeed is seeking closer ties with the European Union.

According to the statement, the recent spate of anti-Hungarian actions in Ukraine can be attributed to elements of Ukraine’s political leadership who are, as elections loom, “seeking political capital by generating ethnic tensions between Ukrainians and Hungarians.” The Cultural Alliance calls upon responsible Ukrainian authorities to take effective steps to ensure protections for minority citizens in conformity with the Ukrainian Constitution, and “in the interest of peaceful co-existence”.

For the full text of the statement, please click here.