"The Zakarpattia region, known for its ski resorts and undulating landscapes, has in recent years become an unlikely focal point of a diplomatic dispute between Budapest and Kyiv. Home to more than 100,000 ethnic Hungarians, Zakarpattia has a complex history of shifting borders and empires, having passed through Austro-Hungarian, Czechoslovak and Soviet rule before becoming part of independent Ukraine. Located in the country's southwest, the region's administrative centre Uzhhorod has been largely unscathed from Russian attacks."
"She said that tensions grew in 2017, when Kyiv passed an education law making Ukrainian the main language of instruction after primary school, significantly reducing the role of minority languages including Hungarian and prompting protests from Budapest and criticism from the Venice Commission, an advisory body of the Council of Europe. From a minority-rights perspective, Lajosi-Moore said the laws created both tangible and symbolic anxieties, particularly in education, and that Kyiv was slow to recognise how deeply these concerns were felt."
Zakarpattia hosts more than 100,000 ethnic Hungarians and has a history of shifting borders under Austro-Hungarian, Czechoslovak and Soviet rule before becoming part of independent Ukraine. The region lies in the southwest, borders Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania, and centres on Uzhhorod, which has been largely unscathed by Russian attacks. Budapest contends that Hungarian language and education rights are under threat. Tensions increased in 2017 when Kyiv enacted an education law making Ukrainian the main language of instruction after primary school, reducing minority-language education and prompting protests from Budapest and criticism from the Venice Commission. The dispute has complicated Ukraine’s EU relations during wartime.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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