Peter Szijjarto spoke at a press briefing after his Ukrainian counterpart Pavlo Klimkin said he was not ruling out expelling the Hungarian consul serving in Berehove (Beregszasz) from the country after hidden camera footage showed Ukrainian citizens taking Hungarian citizenship oaths at the consulate.
The oath-taking was shared on YouTube, allegedly by Ukrainian authorities.
According to Szijjarto the ceremony in question had been conducted lawfully, blaming Klimkin’s remarks on his electioneering in Ukraine’s upcoming election. The Hungarian minister insisted that the footage had been leaked on purpose and recorded as part of an organised campaign.
He said the stunt only served to mobilise “the anti-Hungarian vote” and he described it as a “particularly unfriendly move” to use hidden camera footage directed against Hungarians.
Dual citizenship is common in the European Union, Szijjarto said, adding that the Ukrainian leadership’s objection to the oath taking raised questions over whether Kiev was serious about its Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
Transcarpathia Hungarians are still entitled to their rights “even if Ukraine is working on curbing them”, he added. He called Klimkin’s comments “the latest in the series of attacks on Transcarpathia Hungarians”.
Szijjarto said Hungary views the possible expulsion of its consul in Berehove as a “risky and unfriendly move”. Such a move would move relations “into a new dimension” and be met with retaliation.
Hungary would not rule out future measures to slow Ukraine’s European integration, he said. His ministry has yet to be notified of any plans to expel the consul however.
On Wednesday, Klimkin told journalists that he would show the hidden camera footage to Szijjarto on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting.
“There will be plenty to talk about” at Tuesday’s session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Szijjarto said.
He recently stressed the importance of the Visegrad Group as an example of good relations in an interview with RT. “The Visegrad co-operation is the tightest and the most effective alliance within the European Union. Look, four governments belonging to four totally different families, and regardless of this fact we are the strongest allies of each other. And we know we can show back to back because we’re in solidarity to each other, we protect each other, and the voice of the four us if said unanimously is much louder compared to four separate voices”.
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