Ukraine expels Hungarian diplomat over recent actions by officials

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry announced on its website on
Aug. 2 that it expelled on July 31 a Hungarian diplomat in response to recent
moves by top officials that are hostile to Ukraine. In particular, the
ministry’s letter to the diplomat declared as unacceptable Prime Minister
Orban’s negative statements on Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration aspirations,
“which significantly dissonate from the policies of the European Union, and to
a large extent, reflect the approaches of the aggressor-country.” The ministry
also referred to Hungary’s recent decision to create a ministerial post to
responsible for the “development of the Zakarpattia region” of Ukraine,
including its nursery schools.

Zenon Zawada: Indeed
Hungary’s foreign policy toward Ukraine increasingly resembles the Russian
approach, particularly in stirring up conflicts regarding the rights of its
ethnic minority and in discouraging Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration. In the
past, these actions prompted us to suspect that the two governments were
cooperating. It could even appear that they are planning a partition of
Ukraine, with Hungary expressing exceptional interest in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia
region.

While these intentions haven’t been proven (at
least on Hungary’s part), the Orban administration has been a helpful ally to
the Kremlin in its aggression against Ukraine. Unfortunately, we expect Orban’s
foreign policy will continue to destabilize Ukraine’s geopolitical situation.