Transcarpathia as an object of ethnoterritorial claims of Hungary and Russia: а comparative analysis of strategies and goals.

Abstract

In 2014, an open phase of ethnopolitical disintegration of Ukraine started, which was preceded by long-term preparation, feeding by neighboring states of separatist sentiments among ethnic minorities. It turns out that the foreign ethnopolitics of many countries contains a disintegration component toward neighboring states with ethno-territorial claims. It is Transcarpathia, where the interests of Hungary and Russia intertwined, in case of ignoring the disintegration factors and the destructive activity of these states, may become the next region over which Ukraine will lose control.

Transcarpathia is the object of ethnoterritorial and ethnopolitical claims of Hungary and Russia – countries, pursuing various goals and applying different strategies that ultimately destabilize the ethnopolitical situation in the region and promote the spread of separatist tendencies. The official aim of Hungary is to form Hungarian territorial autonomy within the Transcarpathian region. Hungary is openly pursuing a gradual ethno-political integration of the region's population, rigorously protecting the rights of ethnic Hungarians. Russia, on the other hand, uses Rusyns secretly, promoting politicization and radicalization of the demands of this ethnic group, encouraging them to territorial self-determination. Unlike Hungary, Russia does not have a common border with Transcarpathia, therefore its goal is not to integrate the region, but to destabilize the Transcarpathia, to continue the process of disintegration of Ukraine, to weaken the position of the state in the ethnopolitical conflict in the South and East, to undermine the prospects for the de-occupation of the Donbas and Crimea.

The prospects for further studying of the issue depend on the external ethno-political activity of Russia and Hungary and are grounded in monitoring the activity of these states and their organizations in Transcarpathia since the positions of national minorities – Hungarian and Ruthenian are not independent, but mostly determined from the outside.