The Hungarian community in Transcarpathia is sending out the message to everyone that they are not afraid: they are on the side of peace, not division; they are on the side of construction, not destruction, said Árpád János Potápi, Minister of State for Nation Policy in Ungvár where as part of a ceremony he inaugurated the headquarters of TV21 Ungvár television which was rebuilt from grants provided by the Hungarian government.
In his welcome speech delivered at the inauguration of the Hungarian television headquarters installed in the central building of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (MKMSZ) which was bombed last year, the Minister of State stressed that recently the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia had been compelled to face a number of manifestations of intimidation, of which the television headquarters was a symbolic venue. Little more than a year ago the Hungarian community was subjected to an unprecedented attack, he added, observing that nonetheless “today here we are, inaugurating this building within the framework of this ceremony, handing it over to media workers”.
Mr Potápi highlighted that “today, from here, from Ungvár, the Hungarian community is sending out the message to everyone that they are not afraid. They are sending out the message that they are on the side of peace, not division; they are on the side of construction, not destruction.”
Thanking Hungarians in Transcarpathia for their perseverance, he pointed out that with the regional television channel to be launched the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia will be given a chance to provide objective information, both in Hungarian and Ukrainian, on any atrocities sustained by the Hungarian minority as well as on events in Ukraine and Transcarpathia.
The Minister of State said “we have faith in this community which wants nothing other than its values, to continue to remain a builder of this region, of this country by preserving its language”. They are, however, unable to do so if they are deprived of the right of education in their mother tongue, and if – according to a more recent legislative proposal – the use of their mother tongue is confined to the level of private communication, he recalled.
In his speech, László Brenzovics, President of KMKSZ, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament said it is “highly symbolic” that in place of the KMKSZ headquarters bombed a year ago a modern television studio and editorial offices are being inaugurated. This clearly shows the will of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia to survive: they did not respond to the brutal attack they sustained by running away, but by building something and creating a new function for the damaged building, he pointed out. This gives us hope and points towards the future, above all, thanks to the grants received from the Hungarian government, among others, he said. In his view, creating a new television channel would have been inconceivable without a team of highly trained experts. At the same time, he said he was convinced that the new channel would soon become Transcarpathia’s leading television channel.
Zoltán Kulin, Director of TV21 Ungvár Television said in answer to an enquiry from the Hungarian news agency MTI that the channel operated by KMKSZ will broadcast programmes – as authorised under the Ukrainian media law – six hours a day, half in Hungarian, half in Ukrainian. The programmes will primarily focus on public life and politics in Transcarpathia, including events concerning the Hungarian community, and there will also be magazine programmes. The programmes of the television channel currently under development, which will operate with a staff of almost 60, will be available via digital terrestrial broadcasting as well as online via the most popular social media site, the expert added.
In the morning Mr Potápi inaugurated nursery schools refurbished as part of the Programme for the Development of Nursery Schools in the Carpathian Basin in three settlements in the Ungvár district, in Csap, Téglás and Ketergény. In his address delivered at the inauguration of the Csap nursery school for 300 children which operates with 11 Ukrainian and 3 Hungarian groups, he encouraged Hungarian parents in Transcarpathia to enrol their children in Hungarian-language nursery and elementary schools because this is the only way to preserve the Hungarian identity of the generation now growing up. At the same time, he said it is a welcome development that more and more Ukrainian parents choose Hungarian nursery and elementary schools offering better conditions for their children in Transcarpathia, thereby enhancing the region’s traditional cultural diversity.
At the end of his official programme in Transcarpathia, the Minister of State viewed the new headquarters of KMKSZ in the centre of Ungvár.