Mukachevo, Ukraine - An authoritarian leader, known for suppressing political opposition and using his national press as his own mouthpiece, insists that Ukrainians who speak his language need protection and financial assistance, and he allows his government to issue passports, illegally, to Ukrainian citizens.
Residents of border towns get their news from foreign TV, feel no closer to Kyiv than they do to the neighboring national capital, and seethe over monuments to their heritage being taken down by Ukrainian authorities. Sounds like Russian influence in east Ukraine? In fact, it is Hungary's role in Ukraine's west.
