With Hungarian parliamentary elections just around the corner, the vote of Hungarians abroad is expected to play a decisive role, especially as ethnic Hungarian communities continue to fight for their rights in Ukraine, Slovakia, and Romania. In Transcarpathia, the Zakarpattia Oblast in Ukraine bordering Hungary, local Hungarians make up as much as 12 percent of the population, and they are sick of being dragged off to war.
Now, Romanian-Hungarian George Hajnalka has posted that one Transcarpathian Hungarian, who requested anonymity out of fear of repercussions, has sent her a message, confirming what is already known: Hungarians in Ukraine will vote for no more war, i.e., vote for Fidesz.
Based in Csíkszeredadigital, the influencer and content creator wrote on her Facebook page: “I received this message from a follower from Transcarpathia who asked me to pass it on to you. Unfortunately, he cannot give his name publicly (we know why…) Thank you very much!”
“A message to my friends in Hungary: The vast majority of Hungarians in Transcarpathia will vote for Viktor Orbán. And I would also like to tell you why. Because there was a time when they didn’t even want to know about Hungarians across the border, as if we didn’t belong together, as if we were a burden to be ashamed of. Viktor Orbán was the one who recognized and stated that the nation is one even beyond borders. We received a lot of support and help – I could list at length everything that strengthened us in our homeland,” the message begins.
“The response we often hear is, ‘But he didn’t take care of his own people.’ We see things differently. What we were deprived of for decades was natural in Hungary. Yet we paid attention, we learned, we followed events – even when we weren’t living there.”
“Now, as we face another election, many of us cast our votes with fear and uncertainty in our hearts. Armed soldiers guard the borders in all directions, and circumstances are not easy—but our faith and sense of belonging are stronger than our fear,” the Transcarpathian wrote, ending her message with “We will still vote. Go, Fidesz!”
Over four years of war, Ukraine’s brutal conscription practices have often been highlighted, with some accusations that ethnic Hungarians have been purposely targeted for the frontlines. One major case centered around the death of a Hungarian during his training.
However, all Ukrainians have faced forced conscription, along with highly questionable practices, with a story late last year about one recruit who was beaten so severely in the groin area that he had to have an “organ” removed.
Hungary’s neighboring countries of Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine are said to be home to some 1.6 to 1.8 million ethnic Hungarians, based on census data from the early 2000s. This is the result of communities that have persevered as Hungarians despite being cut off from the “motherland” in the wake of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, which saw Hungary lose two-thirds of its territory in the post-WWI peace settlement. The largest grouping of around 1 million Hungarians lives in Romania, which took over Transylvania, followed by Slovakia (c. 450k) and then Ukraine (c. 150k).
