Ukraine bans two Hungarians from entry after elections interference

Ukraine has banned two high-ranking Hungarian
officials from entering the country after they allegedly interfered with
local elections and endorsed ethnic
Hungarian candidates in the Zakarpattia region, Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine published on Oct. 26.
Bans on other Hungarians are still under consideration, he said. “How the Hungarian
government acted on the eve of elections, and on election day, was an
interference in Ukraine’s domestic affairs,” he said. The OSCE observation
mission has been informed of the allegations, and Ukraine’s Western partners
will receive detailed information, he said. Earlier in the day, the ministry
invited the Hungarian ambassador to Ukraine to a meeting to issue him a note of
protest.

In response, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter
Szijjarto said the bans and protest note were unfriendly steps that were “pathetic
and nonsense,” as reported by the Reuters news agency. “With this, Ukraine is
giving the signal … that it is rejecting Hungary’s support for its efforts
towards Euro-Atlantic integration,” said Szijjarto, who congratulated the
victory of the ethnic Hungarians. With that, Ukraine “should consider the
opinion of Hungarians regarding the future of Zakarpattia,” he said.

Zenon
Zawada: So much for Kuleba’s attempt
at resetting relations with the Hungarians, which was intended to get them to
stop blocking NATO initiatives involving Ukraine. In this sense, Ukraine can’t
be rejecting Hungary’s support, as alleged by Szijjarto, because it hasn’t been
there in recent years. Hungary’s aggression towards Ukraine is very similar to
Russia’s, though stopping short of using the military. It’s no coincidence that
Russian mass media frame Hungary as the friendliest ally, though no agreement
on pressuring Ukraine has been confirmed. We expect no progress in Ukraine’s
relations with Hungary for as long as PM Viktor Orban is in charge.