Hungary has banned three Ukrainian soldiers from entering its territory over the death of a man with dual Ukrainian and Hungarian citizenship, amid rapidly deteriorating relations between the two countries, the Associated Press reported, BTA reported.
Last week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused Ukrainian authorities of beating the man to death during his mobilization into the Ukrainian army.
Ukraine, which has been fighting a full-scale Russian invasion since February 2022, rejected Orban's claim. Kiev says the man is a Ukrainian citizen who left his military unit without permission and later checked himself into a hospital, where no signs of physical injuries suggestive of violence were found.
Ukrainian officials have promised a full investigation into the man's death, which they say was caused by a pulmonary embolism. But Orban and media outlets affiliated with his government have repeatedly insisted that the man was beaten to death by officers in the military district, despite providing no conclusive evidence, the AP notes.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said at a news conference that in response to the death, Hungary would ban three servicemen from entering its territory. He did not name them, but said they were the head of the Ukrainian army's personnel department, a regional commander and a Defense Ministry official responsible for mobilization.
Szijjártó added that the Hungarian government had requested yesterday that the three individuals be included in the European Union's sanctions list. "Pending the introduction of the sanctions, we have taken measures to prevent all three from setting foot in Hungary," he added.
Orban, a fierce critic of Kiev and its fight to repel the Russian invasion, has taken a radically different course from that of his EU partners towards Ukraine. Budapest refuses to supply it with weapons or allow their transit through Hungarian territory, and insists on easing sanctions and rapprochement with Russia. In recent weeks, Orban has waged a massive anti-Ukrainian campaign and lobbied hard against the troubled country's possible accession to the EU, portraying Kiev's membership in the bloc as an existential threat that would lead to war, crime and economic ruin.
Last month, Orban blocked the European Council's common position in support of Ukraine and its European path by using his veto power, the AP recalls.