Hungary's ambassador to Ukraine Erno Keskeny was summoned to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on July 20 to be told of Ukraine's concerns following statements made by Janos Lazar, a Hungarian minister and the chief of the Prime Minister's Office.
Keskeny was received by Ukrainian First Deputy Foreign Minister Natalia Halibarenko.
“It was emphasized [at the meeting] that any activities led by Hungarian intelligence on the Ukrainian soil without getting prior approval from their Ukrainian partner services, were unacceptable,” a statement posted on the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry website reads.
Halibarenko also denied earlier voiced allegations that Ukraine is preventing Hungary from giving aid to the Hungarian minority that lives in certain communities in the Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region at the meeting, it reads.
According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry website, Lazar spoke up about Hungarian intelligence activities in the Ukraine during a session of the Hungarian parliament’s national security committee, which was reflected in the minutes of the committee’s session published on the Hungarian parliament’s website.
According to the minutes of the session of the Hungarian parliament’s national security committee, Lazar said that “there are destabilizing factors that originate from day-to-day economic issues and also from philosophical, ideological matters, as well as the problem of minorities.” And, he said, as Ukraine is a neighbor of Hungary, “this is an enormous challenge for us.” “We have common border with a country that is in a state of war… This is a gigantic problem in itself,” he said.
“[Our] special operation in Kyiv was carried out, and this is no secret, as this is what the intelligence services of all neighboring countries have done – it was carried out in order to have the possibility to serve interests of Hungarians. We were constantly monitoring activities of people charged with decision -making in the [Ukrainian] government, and namely, the prime minister, the foreign minister [of the Ukraine] – all to make it possible for Hungary to figure out its stance towards the Ukraine. In my opinion, our military intelligence did a very good job; both our military and civilian intelligence services accomplished their task in Ukraine superbly. In this regard, for the next few years or even decades, we consider as the most significant the problem of the Hungarian minority and the situation in Zakarpattia region,” Lazar said.
“A fundamental duty of ours is to ensure personal and legal defense to Hungarians in Zakarpattia,” and “we must bear responsibility for all Hungarians in Zakarpattia,” he said. Meanwhile, Lazar said, assistance on the part of Hungary “faces obstacles in Kyiv.”
