Effectively, Ukraine is portrayed as a main enemy, said Zsuzsanna Vegh, an analyst at the German Marshall Fund. This is not just about Ukraine per se, but it fits into the standard strategy of the governing party, of mobilising its electorate through generating fear in society.
The Zakarpattia region, known for its ski resorts and undulating landscapes, has in recent years become an unlikely focal point of a diplomatic dispute between Budapest and Kyiv. Home to more than 100,000 ethnic Hungarians, Zakarpattia has a complex history of shifting borders and empires, having passed through Austro-Hungarian, Czechoslovak and Soviet rule before becoming part of independent Ukraine. Located in the country's southwest, the region's administrative centre Uzhhorod has been largely unscathed from Russian attacks.