Until now, we have known that the Ukrainian government parties are a kind of XIX. from the 20th century, they profess their nation-state beliefs, as they have been making their decisions in accordance with them for years. However, the other day, President Zelenskiy switched the chauvinistic hatred to a higher level and started talking about the collective guilt of peoples.
While Hungarians and Ukrainians probably have no problem with each other, the Hungarian-Ukrainian interstate relationship has been poisoned for years by Kiev's ultra-nationalist aspirations. Although the Ukrainian nation-building efforts were strong even before the upcoming revolution, the new regime radically narrowed the opportunities for minority education and language use in several steps, relegating them to the realm of private life. In parallel with the series of drastic measures, the intimidation of Transcarpathian Hungarians, the formulation of fabricated accusations against the community leaders, and the initiation of criminal proceedings began. Anti-Hungarian outbursts also appeared in the press, ultra-right-wing organizations popped up, and even some representatives of Ukrainian academic life formulated their chauvinistic creed.
It is customary to excuse the Ukrainian oppression by saying that the tyrannical measures are not directed against the Hungarians, but against the Russians, against those who created breakaway republics, who abolished the state-territorial unity of the country with referendums, and who ultimately caused the war, but such an argument is mere nonsense. Repressing minorities cannot be the answer to Russian imperial demands. Chauvinist nation-state building cannot be tolerated even if it is forced into confrontation with imperialist aspirations.
If the Ukrainians had anything to learn from the history of Central Europe, it should be national patience.
But instead of the nationality question in Ukraine turning towards a solution, instead of Kiev trying to show its Europeanness in its big EU push by restoring the rights of minorities - Poles, Romanians, Hungarians, and even Russians - rather, in the poison of anti-human ideas spins the Ukrainian harpoon. Zelensky's outburst the other day, followed by his foreign minister's Twitter post, brings the principle of collective guilt back to Europe, an idea that has led to the most terrible genocides, the most terrible deprivations of rights, and the handling of the nationality issue as a wagon issue.
And while the Ukrainian government demands from the countries of the European Union to ban all Russian citizens from their territory, the president himself knows that what he wants would punish the innocent. In an interview with The Washington Post, he said this about the Russians:
"They will say, this [war] has nothing to do with us. You can't hold the entire population responsible, can you? But yes. The population elected this government, and they don't fight against it, they don't argue with it, they don't shout at it."
It would be a shame to waste words on the absurdity of the idea, but it is worth pointing out: in this case, the fact that a war is currently raging in Ukraine is no excuse, the fact that Russian soldiers are committing inhumane acts on the frontlines, and the fact that war criminals are running amok in the in occupied villages and towns. The collective guilt of the Russians is unthinkable. It is just as unthinkable as the inferiority of Jews, the criminal tendencies of Gypsies or the treatment of women as second-class people.
There are no circumstances under which such a thing could be thought, let alone said, there is no life situation that would justify the collective stigma, the demand for collective punishment.
If, despite common sense and basic honor, such thoughts run through someone's head, it primarily reveals about him, himself, his human quality. And, of course, it tells about those who follow it, accept it, leave it in place, excuse the unacceptable. And the fact that President Zelenskiy's anti-human outbursts can go without a word in Ukraine is not surprising - as it can be tied to the ribbon of nation-building Ukrainian chauvinism - but it is frightening.
Just imagine what will happen if Ukraine wins this war! If together with the victory in the war, the ideals of the Horde also triumph! If he has visited the fronts, psychopaths trained in murder will promote Ukrainian national ideals, and they will act against the minorities.
Just imagine what will happen if these movements cross the borders and provide validating support to the Romanian, Slovak or even Hungarian extreme right. If it becomes natural elsewhere in our environment, which is no longer a problem in Ukraine: to talk about the collective responsibility of nations, minorities, ethnic groups, to label peaceful communities as enemies, to represent the need for persecution not only in secret, under the grass, in compliance with European standards in one way or another, but to act with open determination against their fellow citizens, to openly demand their liquidation, deprivation of rights, and displacement.
Just imagine what could happen if the aggressive Ukrainian nation-state building found followers in Central and Eastern Europe! If tyrannical measures, police actions against minorities, restrictions, wagons were to gain ground again!
We know what this horror means. We hoped that we had overcome it, we hoped that our region had arrived in the 21st century. century. Now Ukraine can push us back into the 19th or 20th.
In any case, the leaders of Estonia and Finland are already talking about collective punishment against the Russian people - who asked EU member states on Tuesday to suspend the issuance of tourist visas to Russian citizens, because they believe that Russians should not be allowed to vacation in Europe while the Russian government's war against Ukraine continues – as if the collective stigmatization and torture of all innocent communities were not infinitely perverse, unjust and anti-human.
Hungarian Nation / András Rácz
