What does the lower reach of the River Garam mean to Hungarians? For some, it is just a region of the Uplands, for others, a beautiful, wide, flat, and fertile valley surrounded by hills, while many people do not even know where to look on the map when they hear its name. For ethnic Hungarian local historian Gábor Juhász, it represents his homeland, a place where his ancestors had lived for hundreds of years.

Ferenc Kalmár said that unfortunately, in recent times, there has been regression rather than progress in the issue of national minorities on a global scale, and the Russo-Ukrainian war has further exacerbated the situation.

The NATO–Ukraine Foreign Ministers’ meeting will take place on 4–5 April in Brussels and it will not be a one-time event, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. He also added that Hungary’s concerns will be discussed.

In accordance with the established practice, special rapporteurs submit annually their thematic report on the events and experiences of the previous period. On 6 March, UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Fernand de Varennes published the Proposal for a Draft Global Convention on the Rights of Minorities attached to his annual thematic report.

Romania has joined Budapest in criticising some of Kyiv’s policies. Bucharest has raised ecological concerns over Ukraine’s plan to continue to dredge the Danube Delta to increase its volume of trade through the Bystroye Canal.

Despite the continual support and humanitarian aid provided by Hungary, serious anti-Hungarian voices and resentment of Hungary still appear in the Ukrainian media.

Guaranteeing access to education in their mother tongue to the Hungarian minorities abroad is an important goal of the Hungarian state, to help the preservation of these historical, indigenous communities.

Miklós Duray was an activist fighting for the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Czechoslovakia, then Slovakia, from an early age. As a university student, he co-funded the Committee for the Defence of Rights of Hungarians in Czechoslovakia.

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine not only opened a new era in geopolitics but also affected the political framework for the protection of national minorities.