The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine says that the conditions of stay in Hungary of Ukrainian prisoners of war, transferred there from the Russian Federation do not allow anyone to claim their “free status,” while the Hungarian side does not enter into a constructive dialogue with Kyiv on the issue.
As European Pravda reports, the corresponding comment was published by the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleg Nikolenko.
“All attempts by Ukrainian diplomats over the last days to establish direct contact with Ukrainian citizens were unsuccessful. This, as well as the information received from the relatives of some of them, shows that the assurances of the Hungarian authorities of the allegedly free status of Ukrainian defenders in Hungary are not true.
In fact, they are held in isolation, they do not have access to open sources of information, their communication with relatives takes place in the presence of third parties, they are refused to reach out to the Embassy of Ukraine. Attempts by the Ukrainian side to establish a constructive dialogue with the Hungarian authorities through official diplomatic channels are, unfortunately, being ignored,” Nikolenko said.
He noted that such actions by Budapest call into question the declared humanitarian motives for the deportation of Ukrainians to Hungary and can be qualified as a violation of the provisions of the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine once again appealed to the Hungarian side with the demand to immediately allow the Ukrainian consul to visit the Ukrainian prisoners of war, so that he could assess their physical and psychological condition, tell them about their rights, as well as provide urgent consular assistance,” the spokesperson added.
Prior to that, the adviser to the Commissioner for Persons Gone Missing under Special Circumstances also commented that the prospects for the return of these 11 Ukrainians remain uncertain.
At the same time, Viktor Orbán’s administration said that they had allegedly informed Kyiv about the transfer of Ukrainian prisoners of war to Hungary as it happened, and that they had ceased to be prisoners since they arrived in Hungary.
It should be recalled that Russia secretly handed over Ukrainian prisoners to Hungary, but the Ukrainian side was not officially notified. Ukraine’s government has established their whereabouts.
It was also reported that Hungary is preparing a press conference involving the said POWs. At the event, servicemen are expected to criticize Ukraine and thank the Russian Orthodox Church, which allegedly helped them get out of Russia and be transferred to Hungary.
