Landscape in transition in the shadow of 2022 Russia’s invasion in Ukraine – notes from Hungary

Abstract

This research note focuses on two phenomena: the transformations in the landscape in Hungary as an effect of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine and the welcome/help centers that were established to channel mobility and provide a temporary safe space. I suggest that liminality (which serves as a main explanatory category) is characteristic of both. It is stated that in this context that the bodies of refugees are reminders of the existence of the (state) border, which gets reaffirmed by the process of welcoming and hosting and is also reflected in the visual reminders in the landscape. I also divide the management of the refugee crisis into three phases: spontaneous action, institutionalization, and sanitization. With the phase of sanitization (removing the physically existing “indicators” of the war, including refugees, volunteers, signs, and queues) the reality and severity of the war can be concealed, and the “normality” can be reinstated. Research is based on field observations and interviews taken in March 2022 in Budapest, Kisvárda, Vásárosnamény, Barabás, and Beregsurány in Hungary.