Analysis of: ‘He cares about Hungarians’: the small Ukrainian town divided over Orbán
The Guardian | April 11, 2026
TL;DR
Hungary's Orbán exploits ethnic Hungarian minorities in Ukraine as pawns in a geopolitical game that serves neither community's real interests. The division reveals how nationalist ideology obscures class solidarity between workers who share material conditions across borders.
Analytical Focus:Contradictions Historical Context Interconnections
The situation in Berehove reveals a fundamental contradiction of nationalist politics: ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine are being used as ideological justification for policies that serve neither their material interests nor those of working-class Hungarians. Orbán's government provides tangible benefits—investment in schools, community centers, agricultural support—while simultaneously blocking €90 billion in EU aid to Ukraine and aligning with Moscow, policies that directly threaten the security and economic stability of the very communities he claims to protect. This case illustrates how nationalist ideology functions to obscure class relations. The residents of Berehove share far more material conditions with Ukrainian workers than with Hungarian oligarchs, yet the political framing centers ethnic identity over class position. Hungarian state media—described by critics as propaganda—plays a crucial role in maintaining this ideological construction, feeding a 'distorted picture of reality' that keeps ethnic Hungarians aligned with Fidesz despite the contradictions. The historical dimension is essential: Berehove has existed 'at the shifting edges of empires' for centuries, passing between Hungarian, Czechoslovak, Soviet, and Ukrainian control while remaining 'relatively poor and underdeveloped' regardless of which flag flew overhead. This continuity of material deprivation across different state formations suggests that national borders and ethnic politics have never served the fundamental interests of working people in the region. The leaked phone call revealing Hungary's foreign minister coordinating with Russia's Lavrov exposes whose interests this nationalist performance actually serves—not ethnic minorities, but great power maneuvering in the ongoing imperialist competition over Ukraine.
Class Dynamics
Actors: Ethnic Hungarian working class in Ukraine, Ukrainian working class, Hungarian state apparatus under Fidesz, Ukrainian state apparatus, EU institutional leadership, Russian state interests, Hungarian community leaders and activists, Local small farmers and workers in Zakarpattia
Beneficiaries: Hungarian political elite maintaining domestic support through ethnic nationalism, Russian geopolitical interests benefiting from Western disunity, EU technocrats using aid as leverage over both Hungary and Ukraine
Harmed Parties: Ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine caught between competing state interests, Ukrainian working class denied €90 billion in aid, Hungarian working class whose material interests are sacrificed for nationalist politics, Soldiers from all ethnic backgrounds sent to fight while elites negotiate
The article reveals a multi-layered power structure where ethnic Hungarian minorities possess minimal agency despite being central to the political discourse. State actors—Hungary, Ukraine, EU, Russia—compete to instrumentalize this community for their respective interests. Local community leaders like Vashkeba occupy a contradictory position, initially supporting Orbán's concrete investments but growing disillusioned with his Moscow alignment. The most revealing power dynamic is the asymmetry between Hungarian state media's reach and capacity to shape consciousness versus the lived experience of residents who insist 'we live alongside Ukrainians like brothers and sisters.'
Material Conditions
Economic Factors: €90 billion EU aid package blocked by Hungary, Hungarian state investment in schools, community centers, and agricultural support, Chronic underdevelopment of Zakarpattia region across multiple state formations, Dual citizenship providing economic access to EU labor markets, War economy straining Ukrainian resources
Zakarpattia remains a peripheral region characterized by agricultural production and underdevelopment regardless of which state controls it. The material benefits Orbán provides—agricultural subsidies, institutional investment—address real deprivation but create dependency relationships that serve Hungarian political interests. The region's distance from the war means its productive capacity hasn't been directly disrupted, creating uneven consciousness about the conflict's stakes.
Resources at Stake: EU accession for Ukraine and associated market access, Labor power of ethnic Hungarian population (dual citizenship enables migration), Political legitimacy for Orbán's domestic coalition, Strategic positioning of Zakarpattia border region, Financial resources blocked in EU aid
Historical Context
Precedents: Treaty of Trianon (1920) creating Hungarian irredentist politics, Soviet incorporation of Zakarpattia (1945), Habsburg multi-ethnic empire administration, Yugoslavia's disintegration and ethnic conflict, Russian manipulation of 'protecting' ethnic minorities in Crimea and Donbas
The situation represents a recurring pattern in capitalist-imperialist competition: ethnic minorities become ideological justification for state intervention while their material conditions remain secondary. This echoes Russia's 'protection' of Russian speakers in Ukraine, NATO's intervention in Kosovo, and earlier imperial practices of using minority populations as pretext for expansion. The persistence of Zakarpattia's underdevelopment across Hungarian, Czechoslovak, Soviet, and Ukrainian rule demonstrates how peripheral regions remain exploited regardless of nominal sovereignty—the fundamental relations of uneven development persist beneath changing political arrangements.
Contradictions
Primary: Orbán claims to protect ethnic Hungarians while pursuing policies—blocking EU aid, aligning with Russia—that directly threaten their security and the stability of the country where they live
Secondary: Ukrainian language laws genuinely concerned ethnic minorities yet Kyiv now courts Hungarian community support for unity, Ethnic Hungarians share material conditions with Ukrainian neighbors but are politically mobilized along ethnic lines, Hungarian state media shapes consciousness while lived experience contradicts its narrative, War feels 'distant' in Zakarpattia creating uneven commitment to Ukrainian national project
The contradictions point toward potential rupture in Orbán's strategy. As community leaders like Vashkeba turn against Moscow alignment, and as Ukrainian state efforts at outreach (Zelenskyy's symbolic visit) succeed, the ideological hold of ethnic nationalism may weaken. However, without addressing the material underdevelopment of the region and providing genuine alternatives to Hungarian state support, these contradictions will likely persist. The war's outcome will be decisive—Russian victory would validate Orbán's alignment while Ukrainian victory would expose it as betrayal of the communities he claimed to protect.
Global Interconnections
This local conflict in a small Ukrainian town is a microcosm of the broader contradictions in European integration and the new cold war alignment. The EU's instrumentalization of aid as political leverage, Hungary's veto power blocking collective action, and Russia's exploitation of Western divisions all intersect in Berehove. The ethnic Hungarian community serves as a pressure point where great power competition materializes in everyday life—in which passport one carries, which television news one watches, which language one's children learn in school. The case also illustrates the limits of nationalist solutions to material problems. Whether under Habsburg, Soviet, or EU-adjacent governance, Zakarpattia remains underdeveloped. Orbán's investments address symptoms without transforming fundamental relations of peripheral exploitation. The community's genuine grievances about language rights and recognition become raw material for geopolitical manipulation, demonstrating how imperial competition appropriates authentic concerns to serve elite interests. As one resident recognized: 'When Ukraine and Hungary, two nations that have both suffered at the hands of Russia, are set against each other, it is Moscow that ultimately benefits.'
Conclusion
The Berehove situation reveals a critical lesson for working-class politics: ethnic and national divisions serve ruling-class interests by fragmenting potential solidarity across borders. The ethnic Hungarian workers in Ukraine share more material interests with their Ukrainian neighbors than with Hungarian oligarchs or the Fidesz political machine. Yet nationalist ideology, amplified through state media control, successfully mobilizes ethnic identity against class consciousness. The path forward requires what some community members already practice—living 'alongside Ukrainians like brothers and sisters'—while building organizational forms that address the chronic underdevelopment that makes communities vulnerable to manipulation by any state promising investment. The contradiction between Orbán's rhetorical protection and his actual policies that endanger these communities may eventually create openings for class-based politics that transcend ethnic divisions.
Suggested Reading
- Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism by V.I. Lenin (1917) Lenin's analysis of how great powers compete for spheres of influence and use various pretexts—including 'protecting' ethnic minorities—illuminates how Hungary, Russia, and the EU instrumentalize the Hungarian community in Ukraine.
- Prison Notebooks (Selections) by Antonio Gramsci (1935) Gramsci's concept of hegemony explains how Hungarian state media manufactures consent among ethnic Hungarians for policies that contradict their material interests, creating the ideological conditions for Orbán's support despite objective contradictions.
- The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon (1961) Fanon's analysis of how colonial and post-colonial elites manipulate ethnic and regional identities to maintain power resonates with how both Hungarian and Ukrainian states instrumentalize ethnic Hungarian identity for their respective political projects.