The support of the Transcarpathian institutions by Hungary bothers the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry’s anti-Hungarian policy and the pressure on Hungarians in the Transcarpathian region do not seem to ease.

In a letter dated 29 July, the regional Department of Education, referring to the decree of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, requests the maintainers of the Transcarpathian educational institutions to report in detail on the Hungarian support they received in Transcarpathia from 2014 up to the present.

According to a letter sent to the editorial board of karpatalja.ma, the urgent task is to increase control over the receipt and use of foreign financial support, and to reduce the risk of ineffective use and to prevent fraud.

The maintainers are required to send an itemized list of donors, educational institutions, indirect and final recipients of all aid received from Hungary, its purpose and form, by the end of the business day.

– The request is absurd, as the county council earlier adopted a resolution on education development stating that educational institutions can receive foreign subsidies and it is discriminatory as it concerns only Hungarian funding, even though we receive subsidies, for example, from the Czech Republic as well, – Ildikó Orosz, the President of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Pedagogical Association (KMPSZ) responded.

The head of the KMPSZ reminded that the funds are officially transferred to the country, and the work to increase the value of the institutions begins after consultation with the official bodies. The support is used in Ukraine, contributes to boosting the Transcarpathian trade, and about 70% of the aid is indirectly transferred into the pocket of the Ukrainian state.

– We can’t think of anything else than the fact that Hungarians from Transcarpathia are under new political pressure. As if they still did not want to accept that we are partners and citizens of this country, – Ildikó Orosz assessed the situation. – They are now putting pressure directly on the beneficiaries, not the companies and organizations supported indirectly. We find this double standard, the attitude towards the aid from a country trying to put an end to the Soviet era here outrageous, as these educational institutions have been stuck in one place for 30 years. No investments were made, no renovation aid was granted.

About 200 Transcarpathian educational and children’s institutions received support from the Eastern Partnership or the Carpathian Basin kindergarten development program, about 80 percent of them is state-owned.

According to our information, the maintainers of healthcare and cultural institutions receiving subsidies from Hungary received letters with the same content.

We hope that this step is one of the „farewell gifts” of the previous administration and that, following the formation of the new Ukrainian government, a constructive dialogue will be initiated between Kiev and the representatives of the Transcarpathian Hungarians without intimidation.

Pallagi Marianna