State Secretary Levente Magyar said Hungary’s foreign ministry has summoned Ukraine’s ambassador to Budapest after Ukrainian conscription officers beat a Transcarpathian Hungarian man who later died of his injuries.
"It is outrageous and unacceptable to beat someone to death -- a Hungarian, no less -- just because he didn’t want to go to war and didn’t want to take part in all the mindless killing," Magyar said on Facebook.
"Today we are immediately summoning Ukraine’s ambassador to Budapest after Ukrainian conscription officers beat a Hungarian man during a forced conscription operation in Transcarpathia, who later died of his injuries," the state secretary said.
"Reports say the Ukrainian officers beat the man with an iron rod before forcing him into a van and taking him to the recruitment center," Magyar said. "The Hungarian family members were told that everything was fine, but the man later died of his injuries."
"A Hungarian man was killed in Ukraine just because he didn’t want to go to war. We offer our sincere condolences to the family, and we stand with them," he added.
Péter Sztáray, the state secretary for security policy and energy security, condemned the actions of the conscription officers and demanded, on behalf of the Hungarian government, an explanation from Ukrainian leaders.
"What is the guarantee that such an incident will not happen in the future?" Sztáray said, according to a ministry statement. "What kind of investigation do the Ukrainian authorities plan to carry out to uncover the facts? How will the family of the deceased be compensated?"
The state secretary called it "outrageous and unacceptable" that a Hungarian man was beaten to death because he did not want to go to war.
Fegyir Sándor, Ukraine’s ambassador to Hungary, said he had been briefed on the incident and promised to provide answers.