Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha announced on Friday that three Hungarian military officers have been banned from entering Ukraine. The decision is a retaliatory measure against earlier actions taken by the Hungarian government, which Kyiv described as unfounded.
A “mirror response” to Budapest
In a post on the social media platform X, Sybiha stated that the ban is a “mirror response” to Hungary’s earlier decision to prohibit the entry of Ukrainian military officer Robert Brovdi. Brovdi, a native of Transcarpathia and commander of the Ukrainian army’s drone unit, carried out an attack on the Druzhba oil pipeline on 22 August. The action caused significant damage to oil deliveries to Hungary.
We’ve imposed an entry ban for three high-ranking Hungarian military officials.
Our mirror response to Hungary’s earlier baseless entry ban for our military officials.
Hungary’s every act of disrespect will be met with adequate response, especially disrespect for our military.
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) September 26, 2025
The Hungarian government subsequently banned him from the country, a move Kyiv labelled as “completely groundless.” Sybiha made it clear that every similar step taken by Hungary will be met with an “appropriate response.”
Not the first time
This is not the first time the two countries have resorted to such diplomatic measures. Earlier, Hungary imposed entry bans on three Ukrainian military officers in connection with the death of a Transcarpathian man, which Budapest linked to the operations of a territorial recruitment centre. At the time, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stressed that Hungary was attempting to use mobilisation-related issues for political purposes, damaging bilateral relations.
Growing tensions
The latest bans are another sign that Hungarian–Ukrainian relations are becoming increasingly strained, particularly in matters related to the Russian–Ukrainian war. So far, the Hungarian government has not issued an official response to the measures taken against the three high-ranking Hungarian officers.
While all of Europe has ejected hundreds of Russian spies over the last three and a half years not a single one has been ejected from Hungary. Instead Hungary has brought in Russians using a guest worker scheme. It relaxed visa conditions for Russian and Belarussian citizens. Hungary’s behaviour is completely incompatible with membership in the EU and NATO. Pending the results of the April election very important and long overdue decisions will be made by the EU that will affect Hungary. The EU needs to downsize for 27 to 26 states.