Abstract
In 2018, according to official statistics, more than 15% of the foreign-born population in Hungary was born in the post-Soviet region, primarily in Ukraine and, to a lesser extent, in Russia. Beyond economic motivations, there are also specific factors that determine migration flows from both countries. In the case of Ukraine, these are related to the ethnic and historical ties between sending and receiving areas, while for the Russians family-related motivations and already existing personal relationships are decisive. The aim of this chapter is to review migration trends from the post-Soviet region towards Hungary after the collapse of the Soviet Union, focusing primarily on these two countries. In the analysis, immigration flows are discussed by citizenship, while the stocks both by citizenship and country of birth. The demographic composition, territorial distribution and some peculiarities of migration flows are briefly reviewed, then—based on census data—the most important characteristics (country of origin, year of arrival, ethnicity, mother tongue and spoken language), the labour market situation and the factors affecting the employment status and the probabilities of acquiring citizenship are examined in details. In the case of Ukraine, the macro contexts and individual motivations determining migration behaviour are also briefly described.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
For other data sources, see later in this chapter.
- 3.
After the fall of the Monarchy (at the end of World War I) Transcarpathia belonged to Czechoslovakia, during World War II it belonged again to Hungary, and after the peace treaties ending the war to the Soviet Union. Finally, after the dissolution of the USSR, it became a part of the independent Ukraine.
- 4.
Based on ‘SUMMA 2017—A demographic survey of Hungarians in Transcarpathia’.
- 5.
For more details, see in Hungarian language: “Ideiglenesen” voltak itt (They were here “temporarily”) (https://cultura.hu/aktualis/ideiglenesen-voltak-itt/).
- 6.
At that time Hungary became a destination (and in part a transit country): in 1989 roughly 34 thousand, and in 1990 more than 37 thousand immigrants arrived to the country, which exceeded the total number of arrivals from the 1960s to 1987.
- 7.
This made possible for ethnic Hungarians (or those with Hungarian ancestry) to acquire Hungarian citizenship without immigrating (establishing address) in the country. Further, in the case of ethnic Hungarian immigrants already residing in Hungary, the simplified naturalization meant that authorities disregarded the requisite of a minimum length of stay.
- 8.
To establish an address in Hungary is considerably easier for Hungarian citizens than for non-EU citizens.
- 9.
Due to changes introduced by the Ministry of Interior in the registration system, stock data before and after 1995 should not be compared.
- 10.
According to census data, 10,195 Ukrainian, 2628 Russian and 754 citizens from the rest of the post-Soviet countries lived in Hungary in February 2001.
- 11.
Data include the number of recognized refugees and persons taken under subsidiary protection from 2005. This group, however, is of less than 200 persons—mainly Georgian, Armenian and Russian citizens—per year.
- 12.
According to census data, 11,820 Ukrainian, 2512 Russian and 1353 citizens from the other countries of the region resided in Hungary in October 2011.
- 13.
This is recorded on the basis of the address that appear on the residence permit that however may change over time.
- 14.
Nearly 9% of the population born in the post-Soviet countries came to Hungary before reaching the age of 1 year, in which case the time of arrival was not recorded in the census. Thus, we estimated the year of arrival on the basis of their year of birth. Further, for 15% of this population there was no data on the year of arrival.
- 15.
The same shares are 91%, 48% and 34% among those answering the question.
- 16.
In the census, it was possible to choose two languages both as mother tongue and as spoken language without indicating the priorities.
- 17.
Since 1991, Ukrainian is recognized by law as an indigenous ethnicity in Hungary. Russians also applied for the status of ethnicity in 2018. In Hungary, to be recognized by law as an ethnicity, ethnic groups have to fulfil a series of requirements, such as being present in the country for a minimum of 100 years, being distinguishable in terms of language, culture and traditions, finally demonstrating a sense of belonging among its members.
- 18.
Foreign citizens were only included in the census population if their usual residence was in Hungary for at least 1 year (or their expected duration of stay exceeded 1 year).
- 19.
Simplified naturalization practically did not affect the population under examination in this section, since it was introduced only in 2011.
- 20.
Due to the fact that there is no information on the educational attainment of immigrants when arrived to Hungary, we compare their education levels as of the reference year 2011 of the census.
- 21.
Although many people were still employed officially, they often did not have any work to do or did not receive wages for months.
- 22.
On the relations of corruption and migration aspirations in Ukraine, see Lapshyna (2014).
- 23.
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Gödri, I., Csányi, Z. (2020). Immigration from the Former Soviet Union to Hungary: Economic Mobility Rooted in Historical Links and Ethnic Ties. In: Denisenko, M., Strozza, S., Light, M. (eds) Migration from the Newly Independent States. Societies and Political Orders in Transition. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36075-7_22
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