Fidesz MEP Andrea Bocskor said the war in Ukraine has strongly affected ethnic Hungarians in the country’s Transcarpathia region, they are deeply concerned over drafting into the army and the future of education in their mother tongue.
According to MTI, Bocskor said that in her address at the 8th Transcarpathia Day hosted by the Hungarian Liszt Institute in Brussels, she pointed out the Hungarian community’s concerns and underlined the importance of ending the war and brokering peace as soon as possible. She said that the event gave an opportunity to call attention to the situation of Transcarpathian Hungarians, “the hardship of their daily life in the shadow of the war” as well as to present “a piece” of their fine art and theatre in Brussels. “It is important that Brussels should not forget about the issue of the rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians and other national minorities in Ukraine,” she said. László Brenzovics, leader of the Cultural Alliance of Hungarians in Sub-Carpathia (KMKSZ), said the survival of the region’s community could be owed to the work and efforts of many people. Tamás Iván Kovács, Hungary’s ambassador for Belgium and Luxemburg, said that the importance of the Hungarian nation had increased since the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia war. “Being Hungarian, belonging to the Hungarian nation is not only a matter of nationality and not even of citizenship,” the ambassador said. He said that it was the language, culture and “common feeling” that created cohesion among Hungarians, calling Transcarpathian Hungarians highly important in the process.