Ukrainian Trident Replaces Hungarian Eagle in Country’s West

In late October, the city council in Mukachevo, in Zakarpattia region, installed one of Ukraine’s most recognised symbols, the tryzub (trident) in the town’s landmark tenth-century Palanok castle.

The tryzub, representing historical heroism, has extra weight in today’s Ukraine as the country fights for its sovereignty in the wake of Russia’s invasion. The trident, however, replaced a turul, a bronze eagle statue and symbol of Hungary’s history on the 14-metre pedestal.

Ukraine’s westernmost region of Zakarpattia is home to about 151,000 Hungarians. This accounts for about 12 per cent of its population and 97 per cent of all Hungarians living in Ukraine. The replacement sparked controversy and disquiet in neighbouring Hungary, whose government has a long-standing interest in the region and has supported it since it became part of the Soviet Union in 1945.

Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó summoned the temporary chargé d'affaires of Ukraine as he described the move an “unnecessary provocation,” but added that the decision would have to be discussed “when there is peace in Ukraine again. We hope this happens as soon as possible”.

 "Ukraine must have Ukrainian symbols.”

The presence of the turul has a long history. In 1896, the then-Austro-Hungarian rulers placed it on a 33-metre-high column in the castle; in 1924 the local authorities demolished it after the Trianon treaty made the region part of Czechoslovakia. The statue was subsequently melted down by the Soviets but in 2008, Mukachevo’s council decided to reinstall it with a copy.

In an official statement, Zakarpattia’s Society of Hungarian Culture said it was “shocked” as the turul had previously been “returned to its former place on the initiative of the Mukachevo city government in 2008 as a sign of a common historical past and peaceful coexistence of nationalities”.

The society’s deputy head, Yosyp Borto, told IWPR that the community opposed the move.

“We [also] sent a letter to the Zakarpattia regional prosecutor's office, challenging enquiring about the legality of the decision, and applied to the court to recognise it as illegal and cancel it,” he told IWPR in a written statement.

Mukachevo’s mayor, however, stated that the decision had widespread support and that the authorities had not received any formal protests from the Hungarian community.

“I saw only public appeals [against it], but these are unofficial appeals, there is nothing to react to,” he told IWPR. “We all live in peace, all the nationalities of Zakarpattia. But Ukraine must have Ukrainian symbols.”

During a recent public speech Baloga announced that “all other symbols, as well as the turul, will be installed in the upper courtyard of the museum as an exhibition”.

OLD TIES, NEW CONTROVERSIES

Sitting at the confluence of four international borders - Hungary, Poland, Romania and Poland - Zakarpattia’s geography has shaped its history and demography. In the 20th century alone it was part of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, the Soviet Union and independent Ukraine; residents joke that a person could have been a citizen of five different states without ever leaving their native village.

Budapest supports cultural centres, Hungarian-speaking educators, and entrepreneurs through various funds and projects. It is also highly sensitive to any initiative that can be seen as a threat to the community, in particular with regards to the Hungarian language.

In 2017, Ukraine approved a controversial education law which increased the number of hours of teaching in Ukrainian and reduced those dedicated to languages of national minorities, notably Hungarian and Romanian. In December 2019, Budapest stated it would block Ukraine’s access to NATO until Kyiv restored what it said was curbed access to education for the Hungarian community.

In 2014, following Russia’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula and the start of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, language became a sensitive issue as Ukrainians argued that the prominence of Russia was a legacy of the Soviet era that undermined national identity. As a result, there has been a push to promote the Ukrainian language in state institutions, schools, television and the media.

Tensions have remained at the political level, despite some attempts to stir animosity among the co-existing population. In 2019, three Polish citizens were found guilty for an arson attack on a Hungarian cultural centre in Uzhhorod, Zakarpattia’s administrative town, the previous year.

While no quotas are allocated to representatives of the Hungarian community in local entities, the first deputy chairman of the regional council was a representative of the Party of Hungarians of Ukraine.

“Hungarians have always looked for points of contact at the regional level,” said Mykhailo Shelemba, professor at Uzhgorod National University’s department of international studies and public communications. “If there was a certain degree of misunderstanding at the state level, there was always a search for consensus at the regional level.”

And against the backdrop of Russia’s war, the region’s majority Ukrainian community have supported the replacement of the turul with the trident.

Maksym, a video operator, said he had nothing against the turul itself.

“But if we tie it to [Hungary’s prime minister’s Viktor] Orban's political steps, it must be removed,” he continued. “In general, our Hungarians are against it… In legends, the turul showed the way to the tribes, but this bird was chosen as a symbol by the revanchists after the collapse of Austria-Hungary.”

"Often, geopolitics are created from such egocentric actions."

For Yuriy, a volunteer, “a Hungarian coat of arms in Ukraine is strange. Is there a Ukrainian trident somewhere in a castle or state institution in Hungary?”

Dmytro Tuzhanskyi, a Uzhhorod-based political analyst and non-resident fellow of Bratislava-based Globsec think tank, argued that the removal had nothing to do with state policy and it is rather a showdown among local politicians.

“It is a kind of vendetta to a certain circle of Hungarian leaders and personally to Vasyl Brenzovych [leader of the Party of Hungarians of Ukraine], it is not revenge towards the Hungarian community. It is, however, a provocation in as much that now Budapest is not fully convinced that Baloga is the one who started it and is looking into whether Kyiv is not involved,” Tuzhanskyi told IWPR.

He added that the provocation was leading people to draw parallels between the dismantling of Soviet monuments and the turul.

“This is dangerous… We strive for membership in the EU and NATO, and the interests of national minorities are important to us. There is no state position in the removal of the turul… Often, geopolitics are created from such utilitarian, egocentric actions. And here, unfortunately, it can work, and that is the danger.”

Viktor Mykyta, the head of the Zakarpattia Regional Military Administration, which was established in the wake of the war as in all regions across Ukraine, called for dialogue.

While stating that “there should be a trident,” he acknowledged that “there should be a debate. I must not allow this to be any aggressive action, either way. We must show the international community that we are reasonable people”.