If Ukraine wants to join EU and NATO, it has to change legislation on ethnic minorities - analyst Tuzhanskyi

Dmytro Tuzhanskyi, Director of the Institute for Central European Strategy, said this in a comment to Espreso.

“The first one to respond to the newly adopted law on ethnic minorities was not Hungary, but Romania. It was a call from President Klaus Iohannis to President Zelenskyy. We have to understand that there are questions about Ukrainian legislation, and this is not just a question about Hungarians,” Dmytro Tuzhanskyi says. 

“Hungary wants to build a coalition around these issues, and it has been doing so for a long time. Recently, these efforts have intensified due to discussions about the possible start of official negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU. Therefore, for example, negotiations are currently underway between Budapest and Sofia to agree on a common position in the context of Ukraine. This was publicly stated by the presidents of the two countries who met a few weeks ago. I know that negotiations are underway between the Hungarian and Romanian sides, but I have little faith in this alliance. However, this does not mean that Romania will not have its own questions and criticisms, and corresponding demands to Ukraine.”

According to the expert, one of the seven conditions for Ukraine's candidate status concerns the rights of ethnic minorities, so Kyiv should prepare for changes in legislation.

“This is not something unique. Hungary and Romania went through the same thing when they joined the European Union in the 1990s. For example, in Romania there were long debates in 1995-1996 about a new law on national minorities. The discussions were very tough, but Romania passed that law because it had no choice,” says Tuzhanskyi. 

“It is very important that in Ukraine we weigh the demands of Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary on the one hand, and the negotiations on EU membership on the other. What is more important for us? This is how we should look at these issues. It is not about whether we like or dislike Szijjarto or what Orban does. We want and need to be in this club, regardless of what Hungary is like. Because Orban and Szijjarto have come and gone, and the EU and NATO, our security and well-being, should be our only priority now.”

At the same time, manipulations about the oppression of national minorities in Ukraine, in particular Hungarians, will only intensify.

“This topic is and will be manipulated at three levels. At the local level – local politicians. This conflict between Viktor Baloha's group and the KMKS (the party of Hungarians in Zakarpattia) is a vivid example of the problem being inflated and manipulated. This will be manipulated at the national level. They will say: we should not give in to the Hungarians. If we were in the EU and NATO, I would also say why we should give in to them. But we are not in the EU and NATO, and it is critically important for us to join. And the third point is that Russia will manipulate this. They will say that Ukrainians are fascists, and this whole song about the oppression of minorities will become louder and louder the closer we get to the actual decision on Ukraine's membership in the EU. Manipulations at all three levels will only increase,” Dmytro Tuzhanskyi said. 

• The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe appealed to the Venice Committee on the rights of national minorities in Ukraine at the Hungarian-Romanian initiative.