Hungary’s foreign minister has made the announcement after Ukrainian draft officers allegedly killed a Hungarian citizen in a raid
Hungary has filed a motion with the EU to sanction three Ukrainian officials Budapest deems responsible for forced mobilization, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has announced. Budapest took the step following an incident in which Ukrainian draft officers are alleged to have fatally beaten a Hungarian citizen.
Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Budapest has consistently criticized EU efforts to arm Kiev. Relations between Hungary and Ukraine have been further strained in recent weeks amid mutual espionage recriminations. Moreover, Budapest has repeatedly accused Kiev of trampling on the rights of the Hungarian ethnic minority in the country’s Western Transcarpathia region.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Szijjarto wrote that “today we initiated that the EU place on its sanctions list those responsible for the death of a Hungarian man during forced conscription.”
In a separate post, the minister stated that a “brutal manhunt is unfolding on Ukraine’s streets, with systemic beatings and torture targeting those unwilling to join the military.”
The following day, Szijjarto claimed that “for 10 years, the Hungarian community in Ukraine has faced systematic attacks” by the government in Kiev, and accused the EU of turning a blind eye to alleged cases of discrimination.
Last Thursday, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador over the incident.
According to Hungarian media, 45-year-old Jozsef Sebestyen died on July 6 as a result of injuries sustained when he was beaten with iron bars by draft officers.
The Ukrainian Ground Forces claimed Sebestyen had been “legally mobilized,” but deserted and admitted himself to a hospital, where he died from a “pulmonary embolism” with no signs of violence.
Ukraine’s mobilization drive has increasingly been marred by widespread violence and abuse at the hands of recruitment officials, as attested by multiple social media videos.
Earlier this month, the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, Michael O’Flaherty, expressed concern over “allegations of torture and death during military recruitment” in Ukraine.
Russian officials have claimed that Kiev is dead set on waging war against Moscow “until the last Ukrainian,” using its own citizens as cannon fodder.
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