Ukraine summons Hungarian ambassador after shocking anti-Zelensky poster campaign

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry summoned Hungary’s ambassador to Kyiv, Antal Heizer, in response to what it described as increasingly “hostile and offensive” communication from the Hungarian government. The move comes amid growing diplomatic strain between the two countries, intensified by a recent political campaign in Hungary that Kyiv sees as deliberately provocative.
Poster campaign sparks outrage in Kyiv
According to Ukrainian and Hungarian media, the immediate trigger for the summoning was a controversial poster campaign launched in Hungary. The campaign portrays Hungarian opposition figure Péter Magyar and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as puppets hatching from eggs: a depiction the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry deemed “dumb, boring, and unconvincing.”
Kyiv views the campaign as part of a broader pattern in which the Hungarian government is allegedly using Ukraine as a scapegoat in its domestic political battles. Deputy Foreign Minister Oleksandr Mishchenko accused Hungary’s ruling political forces of trying to drag Ukraine into Hungary’s internal affairs.
He added that such efforts to frame Ukraine as an enemy (while it is fighting against a real threat to European security) are “pathetic and offensive,” not only to Ukraine but also to the Hungarian people, many of whom continue to support Ukraine through civil society initiatives.

“Revenge campaign” or legitimate criticism?
Hungarian government officials swiftly responded. Balázs Orbán, political director to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, dismissed Ukraine’s reaction as a “revenge campaign” over Hungary’s opposition to Ukraine’s EU accession. “Hungary cannot be silenced,” he wrote on social media, adding that the government would continue to represent the will of the Hungarian people, “even if the Zelensky team doesn’t like it.”
Levente Magyar, Hungary’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, also weighed in. He claimed that Ambassador Heizer was not even allowed to deliver a response during the Kyiv meeting, alleging that the Ukrainian side left the room before he could speak. “Dialogue is difficult this way,” Magyar noted in a Facebook post.
He further criticised Ukraine’s record on minority rights, referencing a decade of unresolved tensions regarding the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia. He questioned Kyiv’s commitment to European values and stated that it should come as no surprise that the issue of Ukraine has become part of Hungary’s domestic political discourse, pointing out that the same is true in countries across the transatlantic alliance.

EU membership: Another flashpoint
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s statement also appeared to address Hungary’s rejection of Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union. The Hungarian government recently claimed that 95% of participants in a national consultation (Voks 2025) voted against Ukrainian EU membership. While the survey’s legitimacy has been widely questioned, the Hungarian government has used it to justify its opposition at the EU level.
Hungary’s scepticism about Ukraine’s readiness to join the EU (often citing issues of corruption, governance, and minority rights) has long been a source of friction in the relationship. The recent poster campaign and diplomatic tensions appear to have brought those underlying disagreements back to the forefront.
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