The foreign minister has said the Ukraine has no legal basis for expelling the Hungarian Consul in Berehove, and accordingly Hungary will provide a response to such an act that corresponds to the principle of reciprocity.
Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, reacted to a statement on Wednesday by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, according to which on Thursday the Foreign Ministry in Kiev will be informing Hungary in a diplomatic message that the Hungarian Consul in Berehove (Beregszász) will have to leave the country.
The back story pertains to the fact that the Hungarian Consul provided Hungarian passports to certain members of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia.
“The Hungarian Consul in Berehove has not committed any act that infringes on regulations, his activities have not contravened Hungarian, Ukrainian or international law,” Minsiter Szijjártó stressed. “All affairs at Hungary’s diplomatic representations in Ukraine are conducted legally, and accordingly we see no reason to recall the Hungarian Consul in Berehove,” he added.
“If Kiev decides that our Consul must be kicked out, I will immediately kick a Ukrainian Consul out of Hungary in response,” Minister Szijjártó said. “Kiev has ruined the previously excellent relations between Ukraine and Hungary through its measures aimed against the Hungarian minority,” he added.