BUDAPEST, July 15. /TASS/. Hungary has called on the European Union to impose sanctions on Ukrainian leaders responsible for the death of a Hungarian citizen in Transcarpathia during forced military recruitment, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated.

Commenting on the recent death of a 45-year-old ethnic Hungarian who resided in Beregovo in Ukraine’s Transcarpathian Region, Orban wrote on his page on Facebook (a social media site banned in Russia since it is owned by Meta corporation classified as extremist by the Russian authorities): "Jozsef Sebestyen was beaten to death after being forcibly conscripted to the army in Transcarpathia. Today, the Hungarian government urged Brussels to add the Ukrainian leaders responsible for the death of Hungarian citizen Jozsef Sebestyen to the European Union’s human rights blacklist."

Earlier, Orban said that Hungary demanded that the EU take a stand against forced military conscription in Ukraine. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto intends to raise the issue around the death of Sebestyen at a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels.

According to Hungary, Sebestyen was caught outside by Ukrainian security in mid-June and forcibly taken to a conscription office where he was beaten for refusing to go and fight on the front line. On July 6, he died of the beatings in a hospital, and three days later he was buried in a cemetery in his native town. His family shared the circumstances behind his death on social media.

On July 10, Ukrainian Ambassador to Budapest Sandor Fegyir was summoned to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry for explanations regarding the case. Speaking on Radio Kossuth’s morning program, Orban stated that "a country where people are beaten to death in consequence of forced recruitment cannot become a member of the EU."

Ukraine denied the accusations. Reports from Kiev cited the Command of the Ukrainian Ground Forces as saying that Sebestyen died on July 6 "as a result of pulmonary embolism with no signs of physical abuse on his body."