Ukraine’s idea to expel the Hungarian consul from the Transcarpathian town of Berehove, after reports that its residents were being issued with Hungarian passports, is risky and unfriendly, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
“‘Following the measures that are discriminatory to the Transcarpathian Hungarians and various attempts to intimidate them, the series of attacks against us has now shifted to another level […] Hungary is continuously monitoring developments and it is possible that further measures to slow Ukraine’s integration may also be required in future’,” Szijjarto told journalists in Budapest, according to his ministry’s website on Sept. 20.
“Szijjártó said it was a “particularly unfriendly” act that a video recorded with a hidden camera at the Hungarian Consulate-General in Berehove (Beregszász) was exploited in the Ukrainian election campaign, using anti-Hungarian sentiment in an attempt to win votes. According to the minister, the recording were most probably made and leaked to order.
“‘Ukraine must also respect its international obligations, in addition to which it must also accept the fact that the 150 thousand strong Hungarian minority living in Ukraine still has rights, even if Ukraine is attempting to weaken those,’ he added.”
Sijjarto said that, “there will be ‘plenty to talk about’ with relation to the situation at next week’s session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.”
Ukrainian media reported earlier that the Hungarian consulate in Berehove started issuing Hungarian passports to local residents. A video from a citizenship oath ceremony showed citizens calling Hungary their motherland and pledging allegiance to it, and the diplomatic staff urging them to conceal their new citizenship from the Ukrainian authorities.
Klimkin said he would discuss the issue with Sijjarto at the UN General Assembly in New York.
