Residents of Transcarpathia consider Hungary a real power, since Budapest has invested heavily in the development of the region for many years.
Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe Dmitry Kuleba stated this in an interview with RBC Ukraine.
He says that the hope that Hungary's language policy towards Ukraine could be adjusted after the elections was a false expectation, and that this topic was promoted solely for the elections.
“This is one of the fundamental principles of their national policy. Not even external, but national. The drama here is that two nations with deep historical traumas collided. The Hungarians had 70% of their territory cut off by the Treaty of Trianon. That’s why they perceive the entire perimeter around them where Hungarians live. These are their own, sacred territories, people. And we have a historical trauma - “only there, de mova, there is Ukraine.” And the same with Poland. Historically traumatized nations are confronted that cannot overcome their traumas at the internal level,” Kuleba said.
According to him, the depth of the problem in the Transcarpathian region with Hungary lies in the fact that Ukraine did nothing in Transcarpathia for 26 years, while the Hungarians built schools, made roads, and the central government did not react to this issue.
“Of course, if the Hungarians come and build your garden, a road at their own expense, pay wages at their own expense, you inevitably begin to love them or consider them a real force in the region. This whole story is a wake-up call for us. The main thing is to avoid a money race with the Hungarians, because we simply won’t win it. Therefore, it is important not only to deal with money.
For example, Minister Pavel Klimkin told me that during a visit to Transcarpathia he learned about the problem of local entrepreneurs who receive Hungarian grants for business development. They can't even fill out a Ukrainian tax return. And this also needs to be done. Hungary has already invested such a large amount of capital, both political and financial, that we cannot only demand and give nothing,” summed up Ukraine’s permanent representative to the EU.