The Hungarian ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry after his spokesman said last week that Orban had told reporters that Ukraine is a buffer zone and compared it to Afghanistan.
Ukraine today protested to Hungary’s ambassador over “derogatory” comments by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and called on Budapest to stop what it called anti-Ukrainian rhetoric.
The Hungarian ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry after his spokesman said last week that Orban had told reporters that Ukraine is a buffer zone and compared it to Afghanistan.
Ambassador Istvan Izdjarto was given “a strong protest in connection with the recent disparaging statements of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán,” the ministry said in a statement.
“It was emphasized to the Hungarian diplomat that the anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, which has been heard by the Hungarian leadership for a long time, is absolutely unacceptable and causes serious damage to Ukrainian-Hungarian relations.”
The ministry added in its statement: “The Hungarian side was urged to stop this negative trend in order to avoid irreparable consequences for the relations between the two countries.”
Hungary has criticized European Union sanctions against Russia over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, saying they have failed to effectively weaken Moscow and risk destroying the European economy, and last year chose not to send weapons to Ukraine.
Kyiv protested last year in Hungary when Orban attended a football match wearing a scarf it said depicted some Ukrainian territory as part of Hungary.
The two countries have also clashed in recent years over what Hungary described as restrictions on the right of Hungarians living in Ukraine to use their native language, particularly in education, after Ukraine passed a law in 2017 restricting the use of minority languages ​​in schools.
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