Minister Szijjártó blasts Ukraine’s summoning of Hungarian ambassador

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has slammed the Ukrainian foreign ministry’s summoning of Hungary’s ambassador to Kiev, calling the move “nonsensical”.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Sunday accused Hungary of interfering in its electoral process. The ministry reacted to Szijjártó’s call on ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia (Kárpátalja) to vote for ethnic Hungarian candidates in the country’s local elections.

Speaking to public media on Monday, Szijjártó said

the Ukrainian foreign ministry had summoned István Ijgyártó, Hungary’s ambassador to the country, to ask him why Budapest had urged ethnic Hungarians to support Hungarian candidates.

• Ukraine objects, they claim the Hungarian government interferes with their local elections

He added that if Ukraine was serious about wanting closer cooperation with the European Union and wanted to embark on the path to European integration “then it needs to forget about these kinds of summonings once and for all”.

Concerning the outcome of Sunday’s elections, the minister congratulated the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (KMKSZ) and Transcarpathia Hungarians for securing representation in the Transcarpathian county council.

The Hungarian government is committed to helping Transcarpathian Hungarians and is ready to continue its cooperation with KMKSZ, he said.

The government will carry on with its economic development programme geared towards the region and with supporting local institutions, he added.

Szijjártó welcomed Berehove (Beregszász) Mayor Zoltán Babják’s re-election and also congratulated other Hungarian candidates who won their mayoral races.

The Hungarian government is prepared to boost cooperation with Ukraine so that Transcarpathia becomes “a shared success story”, he said, adding that hopefully, Ukraine, too, was “open to making this happen”.

Source: MTI