Tensions between Ukraine and its southwestern neighbor Hungary have been running high for a while. About one year ago, a new educational law came into effect abolishing minority-language schools in Ukraine. Although it was aimed at promoting the Ukrainian language (as opposed to Russian, for example) and making school graduates’ entry to universities easier, it sparked outrage in Hungary. 100,000 ethnic Hungarians are estimated to live in Ukraine’s Zakarpattya region, located on the border with Hungary. That’s one-tenth of Zakarpattya’s population of 1 million.
Hromadske: Ukraine and Hungary – can we still be friends?
Hungarian and Ukrainian national flags are displayed outside the city council building of Berehove, a city of 24,000 people in Zakarpattya Oblast, some 800 kilometers southwest of Kyiv and only about 10 kilometers from the border with Hungary.
