The American strategy for Ukraine must also deal with the rights of the minorities living in Ukraine - emphasized László Brenzovics, the president of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (KMKSZ) in his open letter addressed to the American President Joe Biden and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, which was published on Wednesday, when Biden was the White He received Zelensky at home.
In an open letter published by the New York-based Hungarian Human Rights Foundation (HHRF) and also published in the American conservative newspaper Washington Times, the president of the KMKSZ emphasized that American-Ukrainian cooperation must be based on common universal values, which include the fundamental rights of ethnic minorities also respecting your rights.
Brenzovics stated: in the first 25 years of Ukraine's independence in 1991, it ensured the basic rights of ethnic minorities; that they can study in their mother tongue and that minority languages - within reasonable limits - can be used in public affairs. However, according to the Hungarian politician, things changed with the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, because after that the Ukrainian government radically changed its minority policy in order to counter the Russian influence in Eastern Ukraine. Although - as the president of KMKSZ writes - these measures are primarily aimed at the Russian-speaking population of eastern Ukraine, the radical restrictions on the use of the mother tongue also affect other ethnic groups.
In this regard, the president of the KMKSZ reminds that the 2017 law on education and the state language strictly restricts ethnic minorities from using their mother tongue in education as well. He also recalls that the new Ukrainian law, which entered into force on July 1, limits the definition of "indigenous" minorities. In addition, the
The current Ukrainian draft law on "national communities" is also based on vague concepts that limit rather than protect existing rights
- stated the head of the KMKSZ.
According to the president of the KMKSZ, by talking about "communities" instead of "minorities" in the draft, it is apparently trying to circumvent Ukraine's commitments in terms of providing internationally recognized minority legal instruments.
Brenzovics reminds us that the Venice Commission, the advisory body of the Council of Europe (CoE) responsible for constitutional matters - of which the United States is a member - found that Ukraine did not comply with ensuring the linguistic rights of minorities and proposed measures to Ukraine in order to ensure the adequate level of education in minority languages.
The Hungarian politician also reminds us that the ET Parliamentary Assembly and Josep Borrell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, called on Ukraine to ensure the rights of national minorities and that they should not be discriminated against. The president of KMKSZ emphasizes that Ukraine has so far completely ignored the ET's recommendations.
According to the president of KMKSZ
hate speech and crimes against ethnic minority groups are tolerated.
In the past three years, as Brenzovics reminds us, ultra-nationalist groups set fire to the KMKSZ office, put up billboards with the words "stop the separatists!" with pictures of Hungarian community leaders, and operated a website where they collected the addresses of Hungarian community leaders, "For the enemies of Ukraine". branding them, all with impunity.
According to Brenzovics, the Ukrainian authorities also intimidate the Hungarian minority.
In this regard, he recalls: last year, based on false accusations, armed commandos raided Hungarian minority institutions in Transcarpathia. The president of KMKSZ believes that
Zelensky deliberately encouraged anti-Hungarian feelings by comparing the Hungarian ethnic community to the situation in the Donets basin, while "knowing well that this comparison is absurd".
"National minorities are not newcomers to Ukraine, this region has been our homeland for more than a thousand years. As Transcarpathian Hungarians, we do not want special or privileged treatment. We do not want to be labeled enemies of the state, we have always been loyal to Ukraine. We just want to be recognized as an indigenous national minority, which we are, so that we can preserve our language and cultural identity, and that we can cooperate with the majority population as equal citizens in order to ensure a successful future for Ukraine," said Brenzovich.
American President Joe Biden said: the United States must be able to pursue a foreign policy that is based on both national interests and human rights principles, recalled the president of the KMKSZ. According to Brenzovics, according to this, the United States must also insist on respecting the rights of ethnic minorities and treating them equally in relation to Ukraine.
MTI
Opening photo: MTI/AP/Evan Vucci
