Democracy Digest: Zeman and Orban Join Chorus of Criticism of Russian Invasion

The Hungarian government is particularly worried about the security of the 130,000-strong Hungarian minority living in the Zakarpattia Oblast (Transcarpathian region) of southwest Ukraine. Migration Aid, a humanitarian aid NGO, wrote on Facebook about a massive wave of people leaving Kyiv and moving westward, and Hungary should brace itself for "car convoys" of refugees appearing at the border.

Like his Visegrad Group (V4) peers, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has said that Czechia is ready to accept Ukrainian refugees. While the country is the only one of the quartet not to share a border with Ukraine, it has said it will send police units to help control Slovakia's eastern border. Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib announced that the Czech capital will send 10 million koruna (400,000 euros) to Ukraine for humanitarian support. A similar amount is on its way to Brno, Czechia's second city in the east, to help with the establishment of refugee accommodation and other facilities.

Slovak Foreign Minister Korcok said he would urge the government to send humanitarian aid to Ukraine on top of accommodating the wave of refugees massing at the border. Around 1,500 Slovaks troops will be deployed on the border with Ukraine to help process the growing stream of refugees, the Defence Ministry said. Slovak civil society has also stepped up, establishing several fundraising campaigns to support Ukrainians displaced by war. Activists and NGOs have been launching initiatives from the early hours of the invasion.

Demonstrations are already happening or planned across the region. In Poland, hundreds protested against the war on Thursday morning in front of the Russian embassy in Warsaw, with more many actions planned over the next few days in other locations....