Posted on 05/16/2014 8:17:28 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban renewed a controversial call for autonomy for his ethnic kin in western Ukraine, less than a week after sparking a diplomatic row with both Kiev and Warsaw.
"The full weight of the Hungarian state is behind the autonomy demands of the Transcarpathian Hungarians," Orban said in an interview on the M1 public television channel late Friday.
Around 200,000 ethnic Hungarians live in Ukraine, almost all in the Transcarpathia region which belonged to Hungary before World War I.
"A stable and democratic Ukraine is in our interest, but Ukraine cannot be stable or democratic unless it gives the minorities and national communities living there, including the Hungarian one, what they are entitled to," Orban said, citing "dual citizenship, collective, or community rights, and autonomy".
Orban has granted dual citizenship to hundreds of thousands of ethnic Hungarians in neighbouring countries since a new law was adopted in 2011.
He also stressed that in the case of Russia's "violation" of Ukraine's territorial sovereignty, "Hungary must support Ukraine".
Friday's remarks came after his inauguration speech on May 10 in the Hungarian parliament where lawmakers reelected him for a second consecutive term as prime minister following a landslide election win in April.
Ukraine's foreign ministry summoned Budapest's ambassador to explain the comments on Tuesday, while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Orban's statement was "unfortunate".
Ukraine’s neighbours must show solidarity and must have an interest in sustaining its unity and independence, Tusk told journalists in Warsaw on Tuesday.
"We have to be careful not to support, directly or indirectly, pro-Russia separatists. [Orban's] words were ill-timed and ill-placed," he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at afp.com ...
Sounds like a first class hypocrite. Ethnic Hungarians deserve autonomy, but Ethnic Russians don’t?
Orban is shrewd. He sees Ukraine devolving into some sort of anarchy once the economy can no longer be propped up. What better time to snag Hungary some land. It will also placate the Jobbik Party and likely increase Orban’s popularity at home.
Hungary (one of the nations most screwed by the economic downturn in 2008), has become a Russian conduit within the EU more than any other nation at this point in time, although France may join them after the EU elections where Le Pen is expected to take gold, however her power is merely limited to messing with the EU’s superficial internals. Viktor Orban is indispensable on the other hand. Ideologically aligned with Putin, almost as popular as him, antagonistic to western leaders, and a political chessmaster, this is a good move for Orban.
In making such demands, he only increases his image inside Russia while the EU remains unable to stop him. They attempted to sanction the FPO party in Austria under Heinz Christian Strache for ‘Islamophobia’, to disastrous effect, so will be loathed to try it again. Its easy enough to engineer the arrest of relatively marginal groups like Golden Dawn in Greece, but the sitting president of Hungary, he sleeps well at night.
He’s playing both sides. Remember, Hungary is in the EU. The man has been doing this for years. Making broad statements to satisfy Brussels, but really all his comments about ethnic Hungarians do is further destabilize Ukraine. Exactly what Russia wants.
On their second day in power, the new interim govt of Ukraine rammed through a vote removing the official status of minority languages in the 13 provinces that had them.
That included Hungarian language in one province.
This law was withdrawn, but it panicked minorities about the mentality of the government and what else was to come.
Yulia Tymoshenko was caught on tape advocating the mass murder of all ethnic Russians in Ukraine. It was hyperbole, but disturbing to many.
Svoboda gained key ministries in the interim Ukrainian government. This party glorifies Stephan Bandera, whose “OUN-B” military units mass murdered 80-100,000 Poles in 1943. Stephan Bandera wanted a fascist totalitarian state, and the expulsion of all minorities including Poles, Hungarians, Jews, Russians, etc...
You can see Svoboda’s idea of democracy in action here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93b7oDqaHr0
And Svoboda’s new freedom of the press here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXCKtsqudN4
The new interim government has formed new volunteer military units, some with connections to “Right Sektor”.
The mentality of Right Sektor is to get rid of minorities, whether by killing or expulsion.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-25826238
The government is using these new units instead of the regular army in minority areas. It is a setup for disaster.
So yeah, maybe Hungary has good reason to be newly concerned about their minorities in Ukraine.
The Ukraine, if the folks on FR don’t get em, the folks from Russia and Hungary will.
This is getting ridiculous
Does everything group get it’s own laws?
Talk about Balkanization of the world
What about all the ethnic Hungarians in Romania? — in Transylvania (yes, it’s a real place and there never were even legends of Dracula there)
Ethnic Hungarians march for autonomy in Romania
http://www.dw.de/ethnic-hungarians-march-for-autonomy-in-romania/a-17186467
Important as well. Hungary views Transylvania the same way Serbia views Kosovo.
Makes you wonder why we cant just have conservative America and let the libs run off on their own..
Because leftists live to control others
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