"The radical nationalist Jobbik party has demanded that full territorial autonomy should be granted to the Hungarian and Ruthenian minorities in Transcarpathia, in western Ukraine."
A quote from Jobbik party lawmaker Marton Gyongyosi. The Jobbik party has called on the international community to put pressure on the interim leaders of Ukraine and stop the draft for military service that has started in Transcarpathia, too. Gyongyosi, who is the party’s deputy group leader, told this to a press conference today.
Gyongyosi demanded that minorities are ensured their right to use their mother tongue and human rights be guaranteed in the neighbouring Ukraine. Before the recent revolution in the Ukraine, there was a minority language law in place for minorities in the country. The law applied to both Russians and Hungarians. The minority language law has now been scraped by the new pro-western Ukrainian government. Fears are now growing that the situation will get worse for the ethnic minorities living in the Ukraine.
Editor's note: There is a small minority of Hungarians in the western Ukraine near Hungary. This group of ethnic Hungarians was cut off from the Hungarian mother country by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. The Hungarian minority in the Ukraine numbers just over 156,000 but is still a significant number. This figure is according to a 2001 census. These Hungarians have been living in this region (Transcarpathia) for over 1,000 years.
