Ukraine expels Hungarian consul, draws expulsion in response

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry informed the Hungarian
ambassador to Ukraine on Oct. 4 that a Hungarian consul in the Ukrainian city of
Berehove, Georgy Vass, has been declared persona non-grata and has 72 hours to
leave the country. Video recordings were published by the Ukrinform news agency
in September revealing Vass to be distributing documents in the Berehove consulate
that confirmed Hungarian citizenship to Ukrainians, in violation of Ukraine’s
prohibition on dual citizenship. He also advised these new citizens not to
inform the Ukrainian government of their new status.

In response to Ukraine’s decision, Hungarian Foreign
Minister Peter Szijjarto announced the same day his government expelled a
Ukrainian consul in Budapest, accusing Ukraine of exacerbating the conflict.
Hungary’s response was “absolutely and fundamentally inappropriate,” Ukrainian
Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said in response, adding that the expelled
consul would be assigned to the foreign ministry’s office in Uzhgorod, which is
the regional center in the Zakarpattia region bordering Hungary. Berehove is a
city 5 km from the Hungarian border crossing.

Zenon Zawada: We expect tensions to gradually worsen between Ukraine and Hungary for
as long as Viktor Orban remains prime minister (he was re-elected to a
four-year term in April). We also expect Orban to be increasing his cooperation
with Russian President Putin, especially in regards to their aggressive foreign
policy towards Ukraine.