Hungarian FM responds to entry ban on Hungarian military by mentioning EU membership
Ukraine has pursued an anti-Hungarian policy for ten years, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said, commenting on the entry ban on three high-ranking Hungarian military officials in Ukraine in response to Hungary's entry ban on a Ukrainian military commander.
"The rights of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia were taken away, a Hungarian man was beaten to death during forced conscription, the oil pipeline essential for Hungary’s secure energy supply was attacked, and now Hungarian military leaders are banned from entering Ukraine. And in return they expect our support for their EU membership?" Szijjártó said on the X social network on Friday.
As reported, earlier on Friday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha announced the introduction of an entry ban for three high-ranking Hungarian military officials. "We have introduced an entry ban for three high-ranking Hungarian military officials. Our mirror response to the previous groundless entry ban by Hungary for our military officials," he said on X, adding that "an adequate response will be given to every act of disrespect from Hungary, especially disrespect for our military."
In July, the Hungarian government banned entry to the country of three high-ranking Ukrainian military personnel, whom official Budapest calls allegedly responsible for the forced mobilization, which, according to Hungarian officials, led to the death of a mobilized Hungarian, who is a citizen of Ukraine and, as Budapest claims, a Hungarian citizen. On August 28, Szijjártó said the Hungarian government had banned entry to the country of Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Robert Brovdi, an ethnic Hungarian, due to the attacks on the Druzhba oil pipeline. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to clarify all the facts regarding Hungary's decision and to react accordingly.
Broddi later commented on the Hungarian statement: "A rare bird imitates wounds, defending its nest from an attacker. When it makes sense. The Ukrainian Bird, in a moment of danger, prefers active actions to repel the enemy." Before the attack on Druzhba, Szijjártó stated that the reason for the deterioration of Ukrainian-Hungarian relations is the violation of the rights of the Hungarian ethnic minority in Ukraine over the past ten years.