Ukrainian, Hungarian and European flags are flown by the town hall in Berehovo, western Ukraine, on March 7. ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP / Getty Images
Ferenc Tarakiosi does not support his country’s war with Russia. Murder is a sin, he argues, even for soldiers defending themselves against military invasion.
“As Christians, we say that no matter which side you are on, it is still a murder and we do not agree with it,” said Mr Tarakiosi, pastor of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Berehovo, a small town of 23,000. . is the cultural capital of ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine.
He also has a more personal reason for opposing the conflict. “This is not my war,” he said.
This is an echo of the mantra of Orban’s government in Hungary, whose cozy relations with Russia and frequent diplomatic clashes with Ukraine have expanded in the weeks since the start of the war.
Nowhere is the situation worse than in the Ukrainian Transcarpathian region, known locally as Transcarpathia. Before the war, Transcarpathia was home to about 150,000 ethnic Hungarians, including Mr. Tarakiosi.
The community lives on Ukrainian soil, but their language and culture sometimes blend uneasily into a country that seeks to forge an independent national identity, especially after the 2013 and 2014 protests, in which it widely rejected closer ties with Russia.
Now Hungarians in Ukraine say Russia’s invasion has brought new suspicions to their community – and new difficulties. People interviewed by The Globe and Mail described being questioned by state security over social media posts believed to contain “separatist” content.
One man said they had been held at gunpoint for two hours at a checkpoint after the delivery of humanitarian goods – their registration plates said they were from Transcarpathia. In one home, people collected cell phones and moved them to another room when the conversation turned to war, fearing that security services might be listening.
“Everyone is sitting at home scared,” said Vicky Tarpai, a Hungarian actor who grew up in Ukraine. “You don’t have to do something that is really separatist to call yourself one. This can happen to anyone at any time. “
The Globe was shown a large pile of notices of military service in a village, where the mayor was instructed to distribute them to every man of military age. Hungarians say they believe their communities have higher demands for military service than other parts of Ukraine
The Globe did not identify some of the people interviewed for this article to protect them from repression.
The Transcarpathian Regional Military Administration said in a statement that the claim that all men in some Hungarian communities had been issued military service notices was “unproven”.
“Notification of Ukrainian citizens of draft age is carried out in the same way throughout the country,” the statement said. He did not provide comparative regional statistics on conscription, citing “security considerations”.
“No ethnic distinction is applied,” the statement added.
He also dismissed allegations that Hungarians in Ukraine had been targeted by security services.
“This is outright and widespread manipulation,” the statement said. “In this situation, when the war started, additional security measures were applied to prevent internal unrest. Relevant agencies monitor subversive and destructive activities, including the spread of Russian propaganda.
“There is no harassment based on ethnicity for statements and publications on social media. What we really have and apply to everyone without exception is that we are very vigilant. ”
But the war has raised tensions between Ukraine and Hungary. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been strongly critical of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin and banned the movement of deadly weapons from Hungary to Ukraine.
“Everyone knows very well who in the European Union opposes humanity and common sense and who is not doing anything to help bring peace to Ukraine. That must stop, and Europe must stop listening to Budapest’s excuses, “Zelenski said in late March.
Mr Orban, after winning a fourth consecutive election in early April, named Zelenski as one of his “opponents”. During the campaign, Mr Orban promised to keep his country out of the war.
Hungarians living in Ukraine say they do not support the invasion of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It is extremely important for everyone to understand that we are not on Putin’s side in this,” said György, a Hungarian trader. “No normal-minded person would want to live in a war zone.
But when the war broke out, many Hungarians fled, including men who crossed the border into Hungary to avoid conscription.
Victor, another Hungarian merchant, understands why some people may find it difficult to understand the local opposition to the war. But if you understand the situation for Hungarians in Ukraine, “you can draw your own conclusions as to why we don’t think this is our war,” he said.
Ukraine “expects the Hungarians to support this with everything we have,” Dorgi added. “But I would ask this question: why should I do my best? What have you done as a country to earn my respect? “
Recently, a Ukrainian entered Giorgi’s store and became aggressive towards his staff. “He continued to provoke the people working there, saying, ‘You can only speak Ukrainian on Ukrainian soil,'” Diorgi said. The situation became so tense that “he had to be thrown out.”
Similarly, Victor made Ukrainians complain about the use of Hungarian. The best refutation, he said, was the local cemetery: “Before 1945, you would not have found a single tombstone with a Ukrainian name.
But Hungarians, who now make up only 12 percent of Transcarpathia’s population, are involved in Ukraine’s efforts to promote national cohesion. Legislation passed in 2019 establishes Ukrainian as the only state language in the country, obliging it to be taught from high school onwards and requiring citizens to know it. In shops and restaurants, the law requires employees to address customers in Ukrainian before switching to other languages.
The law drew criticism from human rights groups and angered the Kremlin. In a speech on February 21 before the invasion, Mr Putin accused Kyiv of “a policy of eradicating the Russian language and culture and promoting assimilation”.
“People who identify as Russians and want to preserve their identity, language and culture are being signaled that they are not wanted in Ukraine,” he said.
For ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine, sharing this view of the law with the Kremlin has done little to promote warm relations with their neighbors.
However, those in Transcarpathia have joined efforts to help people fleeing eastern Ukraine to safer places, including Berehovo, where no bombs have fallen.
“From the first minutes of the war, our church has been open to refugees,” Mr Tarakiosi said. All Hungarian Reformed churches in the region are also hospitable, he added.
But for communities with large Hungarian populations, the war portends lasting change. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Ukrainians have traveled through the region, and many remain. Meanwhile, many Hungarians have fled, and some are unlikely to return.
Mr. Taraciozzi’s congregation was reduced to less than half of its pre-war numbers. And “of those people who have left,” he said, “20 to 30 percent are not as many as are considering returning.”
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