Hungarian Nationalist Party Calls for Claiming Transcarpathia from Ukraine
Mi Hazánk Party Leader Calls for Fight Against Globalism and Hungarian Claim to Transcarpathia
László Toroczkai, the head of the radical Mi Hazánk party, made a bold statement at the party’s year-closing event in Budapest, calling for the party to “find partners in our fight against globalism.” Furthermore, he stirred controversy by proposing that Hungary should claim back Transcarpathia from Ukraine if the country were to lose its statehood.
Transcarpathia, a region that was part of the Kingdom of Hungary until 1944, is home to almost 100 thousand Hungarians, along with more than a million non-Hungarians. Toroczkai’s words were met with applause from Mi Hazánk members and garnered support from Western European right-wing politicians, including an MP of the German AfD.
While emphasizing the importance of an immediate ceasefire and peace talks, Toroczkai added that if Ukrainian statehood were to cease to exist during the Russian invasion, Hungary should assert its claim over Transcarpathia, Ukraine’s westernmost region near Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania.
His remarks come ahead of Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó’s meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart in Ungvár (Uzhhorod), the capital of Transcarpathia. This meeting could serve as a pre-negotiation for an upcoming summit between Prime Minister Orbán and Ukrainian President Zelensky in Kyiv. Neither the Ukrainian embassy in Budapest nor the Hungarian Foreign Ministry has commented on Toroczkai’s statements. Mi Hazánk currently has six MPs out of the 199 in the Hungarian Parliament.
Toroczkai also outlined Mi Hazánk’s goal of taking over governance in Hungary and ultimately in Brussels, highlighting the party’s stance on the European Union. He advocated for the EU to function as a federation of sovereign countries or be abolished, favoring cooperation through bilateral agreements.
In his evaluation of the events of the past year, Toroczkai criticized the options available to Hungary, rejecting the path promoted by left-liberal parties and condemning the ruling Fidesz party’s foreign policy as “incomprehensible.” He accused the ruling party of focusing on turning the country into a “battery superpower” as its only economic innovation.
Mi Hazánk, on the other hand, stands firm in its pursuit of new partnerships and a firm stance on issues such as migration and the influx of guest workers. The party’s year-closing event also saw the presence of right-wing politicians from Germany, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, and Sweden, indicating a growing network of like-minded political entities.
